China ends 2025 with a trade surplus of more than one trillion dollars despite Trump's tariffs
Chinese exports to the US fell by 20%, but the Asian giant's trade surplus grew by 20%.
BarcelonaA year ago, Donald Trump took office as President of the United States. Economically, this year has been marked by the trade war unleashed by the US president and his tariffs on foreign products, especially those manufactured by China. The Asian giant saw its exports to the US fall in 2025, but commercially it did not have a bad year: in 2025, China recorded a trade surplus of $1.189 trillion (€1.02 trillion), representing a 19.8% increase compared to 2024. During the past year, marked by tariff tensions between the world's two largest economies, Chinese exports totaled $3.77 trillion (€3.23 trillion), 3.2% more than in 2024, while imports remained stable (€2.8 trillion).
Among China's main trading partners over the past year, the Asian giant's exports to the United States plummeted 20% year-on-year to $420.05 billion (€360.32 billion), while purchases of US products increased by 9399 million (€360.32 billion). In fact, according to data provided by the General Administration of Customs of China, the share of the Asian giant's exports to the US fell last year to 11.1% of the total, compared to 14.5% in 2014.
Beijing imports less from the EU
In the case of the European Union, Chinese exports grew by 8.4% in 2025, reaching $559.949 billion (€480.329 billion), but imports from the EU27 decreased by 0.4%, to $268.169 billion (€230 billion). Meanwhile, Chinese sales to ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries reached $665.215 billion (€570.627 billion) last year, 13.4% higher than the 2024 figure, while imports totaled $3.38 billion, a 1.6% decrease.
"It should be noted that some countries politicize economic and trade issues, using various pretexts to restrict exports of high-tech products to China; otherwise, we would import more," said Wang Jun, vice minister of China's General Administration of Customs, in statements reported by the Financial TimesLynn Song, chief economist for China at ING Economics, questions how long this growth engine can remain the primary driver of China's expansion. While Chinese companies are becoming increasingly competitive globally and at all levels of the value chain, on the other hand, "there is a growing pro." In this regard, the expert points out that US tariffs on China have caused a sharp drop in exports, offset by the rest of the world by 2025, although more and more economies are beginning to increase tariffs on China, as Mexico has done. The EU has also threatened similar measures. Given this situation, Song concludes, Beijing has focused on promoting domestic demand as the engine of future growth, but this process will take time.