Sustained import growth bodes well for global firms

China's imports grew faster than exports for a sixth consecutive month in August, with industrial upgrading and continued opening-up sustaining import momentum and creating wider opportunities for global businesses, government officials and business executives said on Tuesday.

The country's imports rose 22 percent year-on-year to 14.61 trillion yuan ($2.18 trillion) in the first eight months of 2026, faster than the 14.6 percent increase in exports, according to the General Administration of Customs. Overall trade in goods expanded 17.6 percent to 34.78 trillion yuan.

In August alone, imports increased 21.7 percent year-on-year to 1.92 trillion yuan, outpacing export growth for the sixth consecutive month. Exports rose 18.6 percent year-on-year to 2.73 trillion yuan in August.

Lyu Daliang, director of the GAC's department of statistics and analysis, said China's trade in goods maintained steady growth in August, with exports and imports both posting double-digit growth for the fourth consecutive month.

Lyu said China is building its modern industrial system through greater openness, with more foreign products and foreign-invested companies becoming integrated into its supply chains and innovation ecosystem.

Foreign-invested enterprises recorded 10.15 trillion yuan in imports and exports between January and August, up 18.1 percent year-on-year, customs statistics showed.

Economists attributed the faster import growth to rising demand generated by industrial upgrading and China's continued efforts to widen market access.

Lynn Song, chief economist for China at Dutch bank ING, said much of the import growth remains tied to technology products, reflecting continued investment in the sector.

The trend was also evident in machinery and electronic products. China imported 6.21 trillion yuan worth of such products from January to August, up 31.6 percent year-on-year, customs data showed.

Faster import growth also aligns with policymakers' push for more balanced trade. At its July 30 meeting, the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee called for efforts to broaden the scope of mutually beneficial international economic and trade cooperation, vigorously develop trade in services and promote more balanced trade growth.

The policy direction was also reflected in a State Council executive meeting on June 29, which urged expanding imports of high-quality goods and services and promoting balanced growth in imports and exports.

Beyond demand generated by industrial upgrading, Chen Jianwei, a researcher specializing in foreign trade at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, said China's continued market opening is creating more room for imports and additional opportunities for overseas businesses to tap demand arising from consumption upgrading and industrial transformation.

Similar views were shared by Peng Bo, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation. "A more open Chinese market is also diversifying the range of imported products and their sources," he said.

China has granted market access to 264 agricultural and food products since the start of this year, including coffee beans from Africa and pomelos from Vietnam, according to customs data.

In aviation maintenance, Shenyang Southern Airline Import and Export Trading Co, a subsidiary of State-owned China Southern Airlines, imported 680 million yuan worth of aviation materials from other Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation economies, including Canada and Mexico, in the first eight months, up 8.39 percent year-on-year, according to Shenyang Customs. The imports included engine and auxiliary power unit components, avionics equipment and composite-material spare parts.

Wang Zhanjun, president of the company, said the enterprise is looking to deepen cooperation with global partners and expand its share of the aviation maintenance market.

In the new energy sector, Ningbo Ronbay New Energy Technology Co, a supplier of cathode materials for lithium batteries in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, is also seeing rising demand for imported raw materials, with economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations serving as an important source of key production inputs.

The Chinese company imported nearly 90 million yuan worth of mixed hydroxide precipitate from Indonesia between January and August, up more than 100 percent year-on-year. The nickel intermediate is a key raw material used in the production of lithium batteries, according to Ningbo Customs.

Gao Yu, the company's customs affairs director, said growing demand for its products has driven both exports and imports of raw materials, adding that strong China-ASEAN economic and trade ties are crucial to keeping the company's supply chains stable and efficient.