China's Goods Trade Grows 3.5% in First Seven Months of 2025

According to the latest statistics from China Customs, in the first seven months of 2025, the total value of China's goods trade reached RMB 25.7 trillion, marking a year-on-year increase of 3.5%. Of this, exports stood at RMB 15.31 trillion, up 7.3%, while imports totaled RMB 10.39 trillion, down 1.6%. Notably, the decline in imports narrowed by 1.1 percentage points compared to the first half of the year.

In July alone, the total value of China's goods trade reached RMB 3.91 trillion, up 6.7% year-on-year. Exports totaled RMB 2.31 trillion, up 8%, while imports reached RMB 1.6 trillion, up 4.8%, marking the second consecutive month of import growth.

In the first seven months, China's general trade reached RMB 16.44 trillion, up 2.1%, accounting for 64% of the country's total trade. Within this, exports were RMB 10.11 trillion (up 7.4%) and imports were RMB 6.33 trillion (down 5.4%).

Processing trade totaled RMB 4.6 trillion, up 6.3%, making up 17.9% of the total. Exports reached RMB 2.84 trillion (up 3.8%) and imports RMB 1.76 trillion (up 10.5%).

Trade via bonded logistics reached RMB 3.69 trillion, up 6%, including RMB 1.52 trillion in exports (up 14.1%) and RMB 2.17 trillion in imports (up 1%).

From January to July, ASEAN remained China's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade totaling RMB 4.29 trillion, up 9.4%, accounting for 16.7% of China's total foreign trade.

The EU ranked second, with trade volume reaching RMB 3.35 trillion, up 3.9%, representing 13% of the total.

The US remained China's third-largest trading partner, with bilateral trade totaling RMB 2.42 trillion, down 11.1%, accounting for 9.4%.

Meanwhile, trade with Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries reached RMB 13.29 trillion, up 5.5%.

Private enterprises recorded imports and exports worth RMB 14.68 trillion, up 7.4%, representing 57.1% of China's total trade-an increase of 2.1 percentage points year-on-year.

Exports from private enterprises totaled RMB 10.04 trillion (up 8.7%), accounting for 65.6% of total exports, while imports reached RMB 4.64 trillion (up 4.7%), accounting for 44.7% of total imports.

Foreign-invested enterprises posted RMB 7.46 trillion in trade, up 2.6%, making up 29% of total trade. This included RMB 4.1 trillion in exports (up 4.9%) and RMB 3.36 trillion in imports (down 0.1%).

State-owned enterprises saw trade fall to RMB 3.49 trillion, down 8.8%, representing 13.6% of the total. Within this, exports reached RMB 1.13 trillion (up 3.2%) and imports RMB 2.36 trillion (down 13.6%).

In the first seven months, China exported RMB 9.18 trillion worth of mechanical and electrical (M&E) products, up 9.3%, accounting for 60% of total exports.

Key products included automatic data processing equipment and components (RMB 823.62 billion, up 1.1%), integrated circuits (RMB 778.45 billion, up 21.8%), and automobiles (RMB 513.46 billion, up 10.9%).

Meanwhile, labor-intensive exports totaled RMB 2.41 trillion, down 0.8%, accounting for 15.7% of total exports. This included apparel and accessories (RMB 636.79 billion, up 0.9%), textiles (RMB 590.07 billion, up 2.7%), and plastic products (RMB 438.9 billion, up 0.5%).

Exports of agricultural products reached RMB 414.66 billion, up 2.9%.

In the first seven months, China imported 697 million tonnes of iron ore, down 2.3%, with the average import price falling by 15%.

Crude oil imports reached 327 million tonnes, up 2.8%, with prices down 12.7%.

Coal imports totaled 257 million tonnes, down 13%, with prices declining 24%.

Natural gas imports were 70.14 million tonnes, down 6.9%, with prices falling 6.7%.

Soybean imports stood at 61.035 million tonnes, up 4.6%, with prices down 12.5%.

Refined oil imports reached 23.391 million tonnes, down 16.6%, with a 4% price drop.

In addition, China imported 15.923 million tonnes of primary form plastics, down 5% with prices down 0.5%, and 3.113 million tonnes of unwrought copper and copper products, down 2.6% but with prices rising 4.9%.

Imports of mechanical and electrical products rose to RMB 4.09 trillion, up 5.8%.