TRADE WAR: China’s trade surplus surges 20% to a record $1.2 trillion, even with Trump’s tariffs.

China’s trade surplus surged to a record of almost $1.2 trillion in 2025, the government said Wednesday, as exports to other countries made up for slowing shipments to the U.S. under President Donald Trump’s onslaught of higher tariffs.

China’s exports rose 5.5% for the whole of last year to $3.77 trillion, customs data showed, as Chinese automakers and other manufacturers expanded into markets across the globe. Imports flatlined at $2.58 trillion. The 2024 trade surplus was over $992 billion.

In December, China’s exports climbed 6.6% from the year before in dollar terms, better than economists’ estimates and higher than November’s 5.9% year-on-year increase. Imports in December were up 5.7% year-on-year, compared to November’s 1.9%.

It looked odd to me at first that China’s exports surged that much while imports — the country is highly dependent on imported raw materials for its manufacturing — remained flat.

Best guess is that domestic demand continues to slump, while Beijing continues trying to export its domestic troubles to foreign markets.