According to customs statistics, in the first 10 months of 2025, China’s goods trade continued its steady growth trend, with the total import and export value reaching 37.31 trillion yuan, an increase of 3.6% year-on-year (the same below). Among this, exports were 22.12 trillion yuan, up 6.2%; imports were 15.19 trillion yuan, remaining largely flat compared to the same period last year. In October, China’s total goods trade import and export value was 3.7 trillion yuan, an increase of 0.1%. Among this, exports were 2.17 trillion yuan, down 0.8%; imports were 1.53 trillion yuan, up 1.4%, marking the fifth consecutive month of growth.
Main characteristics of China’s imports and exports in the first 10 months:
I. Growth in imports and exports of general trade and processing trade
In the first 10 months, China’s general trade import and export value was 23.64 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.3%, accounting for 63.4% of China’s total foreign trade value; processing trade import and export value was 6.94 trillion yuan, an increase of 6.5%, accounting for 18.6%; imports and exports under bonded logistics amounted to 5.34 trillion yuan, an increase of 5.5%.
II. Growth in imports and exports with ASEAN and the EU
In the first 10 months, ASEAN was China’s largest trading partner, with the total trade value between China and ASEAN reaching 6.18 trillion yuan, an increase of 9.1%, accounting for 16.6% of China’s total foreign trade value. The EU was China’s second largest trading partner, with the total trade value between China and the EU reaching 4.88 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.9%, accounting for 13.1% of China’s total foreign trade value. The United States was China’s third largest trading partner, with the total trade value between China and the US reaching 3.38 trillion yuan, a decrease of 15.9%, accounting for 9% of China’s total foreign trade value.
During the same period, China’s total import and export value with countries jointly building the “Belt and Road” was 19.28 trillion yuan, an increase of 5.9%.
III. Growth in imports and exports by private enterprises and foreign-invested enterprises
In the first 10 months, import and export by private enterprises reached 21.28 trillion yuan, an increase of 7.2%, accounting for 57% of China’s total foreign trade value, an increase of 1.9 percentage points compared to the same period last year; import and export by foreign-invested enterprises reached 10.91 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.9%, accounting for 29.3% of China’s total foreign trade value; import and export by state-owned enterprises reached 5.04 trillion yuan, a decrease of 8.1%, accounting for 13.5% of China’s total foreign trade value.
IV. Mechanical and electrical products account for over 60% of exports, with significant growth in integrated circuit and automobile exports
In the first 10 months, China exported 13.43 trillion yuan worth of mechanical and electrical products, an increase of 8.7%, accounting for 60.7% of China’s total export value. Among these, automatic data processing equipment and its parts were 1.19 trillion yuan, down 0.7%; integrated circuits were 1.16 trillion yuan, up 24.7%; automobiles were 798.39 billion yuan, up 14.3%. During the same period, exports of labor-intensive products were 3.38 trillion yuan, down 3%, accounting for 15.3% of China’s total export value. Among these, garments and clothing accessories were 905.0 billion yuan, down 3%; textiles were 844.19 billion yuan, up 1.8%; plastic products were 614.55 billion yuan, down 0.1%. Exports of agricultural products were 598.98 billion yuan, up 2%.
V. Import prices of major bulk commodities fell, while the value of mechanical and electrical product imports grew
In the first 10 months, China imported 1.029 billion tons of iron ore, an increase of 0.7%, with the average import price down 10.7%; 471 million tons of crude oil, an increase of 3.1%, with the average price down 12.1%; 388 million tons of coal, a decrease of 11%, with the average price down 24.5%; 103 million tons of natural gas, a decrease of 6.2%, with the average price down 8.8%; 95.682 million tons of soybeans, an increase of 6.4%, with the average price down 11.1%; 34.193 million tons of refined oil products, a decrease of 16.3%, with the average price down 4.6%. In addition, imports of primary shaped plastics were 22.12 million tons, a decrease of 7.6%, with the average price down 0.6%; unwrought copper and copper products were 4.456 million tons, a decrease of 3.1%, with the average price up 5.7%. During the same period, imports of mechanical and electrical products were 6.05 trillion yuan, an increase of 5.5%.
