In July, China experienced a significant export rise of 23.9% year-on-year, indicating strong resilience in trade driven by high-tech product demand amidst global pressure on its economy. The increase comes against the backdrop of a 27.5% rise in imports, largely due to price hikes, particularly for chips. Notably, exports of electronic integrated circuits reached a record $38.7 billion, comprising nearly 10% of total exports. China’s trade surplus for the first seven months of the year stands at $687.4 billion, slightly higher than the previous year. While overall economic growth has shown signs of slowing, particularly in investment and retail, trade remains a key driver. Additionally, exports to the U.S. saw a 17% increase in July.

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China’s exports jump almost a quarter in July

Trade remains resilient in world’s second-largest economy on soaring demand for high-tech goods

A cargo ship leaves a berth at the port in Qingdao, in China’s eastern Shandong province China has maintained strong export growth, a bright point for the economy© AFP/Getty Images

Thomas Hale in Shanghai and Haohsiang Ko in Hong Kong

PublishedAugust 7 2026

UpdatedAugust 7 2026

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China’s exports rose by almost a quarter last month on a year earlier, the latest in a series of sharp monthly increases that highlight the resilience of its trade engine and global demand for high-tech products.

Exports added 23.9 per cent in dollar terms year on year in July, official data from China’s General Administration of Customs showed on Friday, with tech shipments showing signs of strength on the global AI build-out.

Imports, which have been driven heavily by rising prices, including of chips, added 27.5 per cent year on year in dollar terms in July, slowing from 36 per cent growth in June.

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China’s soaring exports, which have consistently risen at double-digit rates by dollar value in 2026, including 27 per cent in June, come alongside signs of growing pressure in the world’s second-largest economy.

Official growth in second-quarter GDP fell below an official target that was already the slowest in decades. Monthly indicators tracking investment and retail spending have also weakened sharply, adding to a sense of reliance on trade to drive activity.

Beijing last week pledged efforts to accelerate spending to support the economy but stopped short of unveiling any major stimulus.

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High-tech exports from China are up 41 per cent year to date in 2026, compared with the same period a year earlier, according to customs data that showed strong dollar-value increases across categories from ships to semiconductors.

Exports of electronic integrated circuits doubled in July from a year earlier to $38.7bn, a new monthly record that amounted to close to 10 per cent of total exports.

Julian Evans-Pritchard, head of China economics at Capital Economics, said the contribution to growth of such shipments, as well as computer equipment, was primarily driven by higher prices rather than volume. Exports, he added, were “largely just driven by higher prices at the aggregate level”, but there had been a shift “away from oil towards chips”.

China’s trade surplus in goods last year hit a record of $1.2tn, fuelling concerns from its trading partners over perceived imbalances. These fears have become especially acute in Europe where the auto industry is battling intense competition from China.

For the January-to-July period, China’s trade surplus in goods is now running at $687.4bn, above last year’s level of $680.6bn.

A tariff war between the US and China, meanwhile, was suspended in October by a one-year truce, but tensions have continued to simmer. Beijing this week tightened export controls of drones to the US, which has in turn taken steps to curb tech imports from the mainland.

Lynn Song, chief China economist at ING, noted that growth in China’s exports to the US has increased in each of the past four months, including a 17 per cent rise in July, and is now up slightly for this year on a year earlier.

Data visualisation by Haohsiang Ko in Hong Kong

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