China Reports Sharp Rise in Exports and Imports in September 2026

China's exports rose 36.3% year-on-year in September 2026, reaching $447.2 billion, while imports grew 31.0%, to around $291 billion, according to data from China's General Administration of Customs cited by ICIS. The monthly trade surplus widened to $133.53 billion, up from $119.1 billion in August, marking a 20-month high.

In local currency terms, China's foreign trade also showed a historic leap: total imports and exports in September reached 5.16 trillion yuan, surpassing the 5 trillion threshold for the first time, with a year-on-year increase of 27.5%, according to data released by HKSG Media and Seatrade Maritime. Exports in yuan totaled 3.03 trillion, up 29.6%, and imports reached 2.13 trillion, up 24.6%, according to HKSG Media. At the press conference cited by Seatrade Maritime, Wang Jun, deputy director of Customs, noted that the pace of foreign trade growth in the first three quarters was the highest for the same period in the last five years.

For the January-September period, China's trade surplus reached $938.11 billion, putting the country on track to surpass the one-trillion-dollar mark earlier than last year, according to ICIS. In yuan terms, total trade for the first nine months amounted to 39.94 trillion, up 18.8% year-on-year, with exports of 23.2 trillion (+16.4%) and imports of 16.74 trillion (+22.3%), according to HKSG Media and Seatrade Maritime.

Growth was driven by strong global demand for semiconductors and other high-tech products, amid worldwide investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure, according to ICIS. Along the same lines, HKSG Media and Seatrade Maritime reported that integrated circuit exports grew 99.1% year-on-year in the first three quarters, while electric vehicles rose 72.3%, lithium batteries 36.4%, and wind turbines and their components 22.4%.

China's exports to the United States rose 39.6% year-on-year in September, amid a trade truce extended until January 2027 and tariff cuts on $30 billion worth of products, according to ICIS. ASEAN consolidated its position as China's leading export market, with a 52.3% increase in September, while trade with the European Union grew 25.3% in the same month, according to the same source.