China’s trade surplus surges 20 percent to a record US$1.2 trillionAP, HONG KONGChina’s trade surplus surged to a record of almost US$1.2 trillion last year, the government said yesterday, as exports to other countries made up for slowing shipments to the US under US President Donald Trump’s onslaught of higher tariffs. The results came as China’s exports last month climbed 6.6 percent from the year before in US dollar terms, better than economists’ estimates and higher than November’s 5.9 percent year-on-year increase. For the whole of last year, China’s exports to the US fell 20 percent. “We expect domestic demand growth to stay tepid,” Rong said. With slow import growth, he expects China’s trade surplus to remain above US$1 trillion this year.

Source: Taipei Times January 14, 2026 16:42 UTC