Review of China’s Foreign Trade in the First

Three Quarters of 2025

October 13, 2025

General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China

According to Customs statistics, China’s foreign trade in goods in the first three quarters of 2025 reached RMB33.61 trillion, up by 4% year-on-year. Exports grew by 7.1% to RMB19.95 trillion and imports decreased by 0.2% to RMB13.66 trillion. In September, China’s foreign trade value reached RMB4.04 trillion, up by 8%.

The details are as follows:

1. Growth rate of imports and exports increased quarter by quarter. In the first and second quarter of this year, China’s foreign trade value increased by 1.3% and 4.5% respectively. In the third quarter, the number expanded by 6% to RMB11.82 trillion, registering positive year-on-year growth for eight consecutive quarters.

2. Trading partners became more diverse. In the first three quarters, China’s trade with BRI partner countries totaled RMB17.37 trillion, up by 6.2% year-on-year, taking up 51.7% of China’s total import and export value, with an increase of 1.1 percentage points. China’s trade with ASEAN, Latin America, Africa and Central Asia grew by 9.6%, 3.9%, 19.5%, and 16.7%, respectively. China’s trade with other APEC economies was up by 2%.

3. Structure of exported products has been optimized. In the first three quarters, exports of electro-mechanical products increased by 9.6% to RMB12.07 trillion, taking up 60.5% of China’s total exports with an increase of 1.4 percentage points. Exports of high-tech products including electronic information products, high-end equipment, and instruments and apparatus rose by 8.1%, 22.4%, and 15.2%, respectively. Exports of “the new three”, railway electric locomotives, and other green products experienced double-digit growth.

4. Imports were gradually picking up. As the potential of China’s domestic demand was effectively unleashed, imports increased by 0.3% year-on-year in the second quarter of this year and the growth rate accelerated to 4.7% in the third quarter. In the third quarter, crude oil, metal mines and ores expanded by 4.9% and 10.1% in volume, respectively. Imports of measuring or checking instruments, computers and communication devices grew by 9.3% and 8.9% respectively.

5. Foreign trade entities have been further invigorated. In the first three quarters, around 700,000 enterprises inChinaengaged in import and export activities, an year-on-year increase of approximately 52,000. The total number of private enterprises with import and export records stood at around 613,000. They registered RMB19.16 trillion in trade with an increase of 7.8%. About 80,000 foreign-invested enterprises recorded RMB9.82 trillion in imports and exports, up by 3.1%.