China's foreign trade surges 16.9% in H1

China's foreign trade grew by 16.9 percent on a yearly basis to 25.47 trillion yuan ($3.76 trillion) in the first half of 2026, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs (GAC) on Tuesday.

The country's exports rose 13.4 percent year-on-year to 14.73 trillion yuan, while its imports jumped 22.1 percent on a yearly basis to 10.74 trillion yuan.

Speaking at a news conference in Beijing, Wang Jun, GAC vice-minister, said the structure of China's exports continued to improve in the first half, with shipments of mechanical and electrical products rising 20.1 percent year-on-year to 9.36 trillion yuan, accounting for 63.5 percent of the country's total exports, up 3.5 percentage points from the same period a year earlier.

Wang said the rapid development of artificial intelligence has driven strong growth in trade in AI-related products.

China's imports and exports of computing-power hardware, including electronic components and computer parts, rose 56.6 percent year-on-year to 5.13 trillion yuan in the first half.

"AI-powered smart glasses, AI translation devices and robotic exoskeletons are among the intelligent products undergoing rapid iteration, with innovative new products continuing to emerge," he added.

China's imports outpaced exports by 8.7 percentage points during the January-June period, supporting more balanced trade growth.

China imported 1.43 billion metric tons of commodities such as energy products and metal ores, up 3.4 percent year-on-year. Its imports of mechanical and electrical products surged 28 percent to 4.41 trillion yuan, while agricultural product imports rose 8.6 percent to 768.48 billion yuan.