China's trade in July beats expectations amid tariff truce uncertainty

In July, exports rose by 8 percent to 2.31 trillion yuan, and imports increased by 4.8 percent to 1.6 trillion yuan, pushing total trade up 6.7 percent year-on-year to 3.91 trillion yuan. The strong showing came as the clock ticks on a temporary tariff truce with the US, which is set to expire on August 12.

In US dollar terms, China's exports jumped 7.2 percent in July from a year earlier — beating market forecasts as per CNBC and signaling resilience despite global headwinds. Imports rose 4.1 percent, the sharpest gain since July 2024, indicating a rebound in domestic demand.

China's trade with ASEAN, the EU, Africa and Central Asia rose by 9.4 percent, 3.9 percent, 17.2 percent and 16.3 percent, respectively, in yuan terms, as Beijing deepened ties with non-Western markets amid lingering trade frictions with the US.

This year also marks the 20th anniversary of China's green development philosophy, known as "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets." Over the past two decades, China's economy has grown greener and more innovation-driven — a trend now reflected in its export structure.

From January to July, high-tech products accounted for 5.1 trillion yuan in trade, up 8.4 percent, contributing 45.4 percent to the overall trade growth. Exports of advanced machine tools rose 23.4 percent, while imports of high-end textile machinery climbed by 19.3 percent. Green exports — including electric vehicles, solar panels and lithium batteries — rose 14.9 percent.

Private enterprises continued to anchor China's foreign trade. Their total imports and exports hit 14.68 trillion yuan, up 7.4 percent, accounting for 57.1 percent of China's total trade — a 2.1-percentage points rise from a year earlier. Trade with Belt and Road partner countries reached 7.97 trillion yuan, up 10 percent, comprising over half of the private sector trade.

The number of private firms engaged in import-export activity rose by 8.5 percent to 570,000, making up 87.2 percent of all trading enterprises.

Since the rollout of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) development plan in February 2019, the nine mainland cities in the GBA have recorded total trade of 50.67 trillion yuan. In the first seven months of this year, their trade rose by 4.7 percent to 5.2 trillion yuan.

Commenting on the latest data, Lyu Daliang, spokesperson for the General Administration of Customs, said China's economy has continued to improve steadily despite external uncertainties. Both exports and imports maintained growth in July, and private enterprises continue to play a key stabilizing role in foreign trade, Lyu said.

As reported earlier, a suspension bridge accident at a scenic spot in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region left five people dead and 24 others injured.