China's Foreign Trade in the First Three

China's Foreign Trade in the First Three Quarters of 2025: "Eight Consecutive Quarters of Growth" and Stepped Expansion of Trade Surplus

 

In the first three quarters of 2025, China's goods trade delivered a strong performance. It not only sustained its growth momentum but also saw a quarterly expansion of trade surplus, laying a solid foundation for the stable operation of foreign trade throughout the year.

 

Data shows that the total value of China's goods trade imports and exports in the first three quarters reached 33.61 trillion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 4%. Notably, this marks the 8th consecutive quarter of year-on-year growth, highlighting the sustained resilience of China's foreign trade. From a quarterly growth perspective, China's foreign trade maintained a steady upward trend: imports and exports grew by 1.3% year-on-year in the first quarter, accelerated to 4.5% in the second quarter, and further rose to 6% in the third quarter. This sequential acceleration reflects the growing driving force behind foreign trade development. Among the components, exports performed particularly well—with a total of 19.95 trillion yuan in exports in the first three quarters, up 7.1% year-on-year, serving as a key engine for driving foreign trade growth. Imports, on the other hand, reached 13.66 trillion yuan, a slight decrease of 0.2% year-on-year, indicating room for further improvement in import demand. Looking at September alone, the total value of imports and exports stood at 4.04 trillion yuan, growing by 8% year-on-year, concluding the third quarter with strong growth.

 

In terms of trade balance, China's goods trade surplus in the first three quarters amounted to 6.29 trillion yuan, showing a "quarterly stepped growth" pattern: the surplus was 1.87 trillion yuan in the first quarter, expanded to 2.12 trillion yuan in the second quarter, and further increased to 2.3 trillion yuan in the third quarter. The quarterly expansion of the trade surplus not only reflects the continuous improvement in the international competitiveness of China's export products but also demonstrates the stability of China's foreign trade structure amid dynamic adjustments, providing strong support for the stable operation of the macroeconomy.

 

Currently, China's foreign trade continues to demonstrate strong adaptability and growth potential amid the complex international environment. Looking ahead, with the continuous implementation of policies to stabilize foreign trade and the consolidation of the resilience of export industrial chains, China's foreign trade is expected to maintain a stable growth trend.