China’s exports register their first drop since March of last year in full tug-of-war with the US
Chinese exports have increased last October a total of 264,947 million euros (305,353 million dollars), which represents a drop of 7% compared to the previous month and a decline of 1.1% compared to the same month of the previous year, which represents the first year-on-year drop in China sales abroad since March 2024, when they fell 7.5%, according to the General Administration of Customs of China.
The loss of momentum in China’s exports in October due to the impact of tariff tensions with the United Statesis similar to what happened at the start of 2025, although then, given that the Customs Administration presents the data for January and February grouped together, to avoid distortions due to the celebration of the lunar new year, The official data in the first two combined months of 2025 showed an increase of 2.3% year-on-year. Specifically, sales to the United States in the tenth month of the year have been in the $34.92 billion (30,299 million euros) and imports at 10,156 million dollars (8,812 million euros), which implies year-on-year declines of 25% and 22.8%, respectively.
The Asian giant matters less
On their side, the imports from china In the tenth month of the year they have reached a value in dollars of 215,279 million dollars (186,792 million euros), a figure that represents a drop of 9.5% compared to the month of September, although in relation to the same month last year it is an increase of 1%.
In October, the Chinese exports to the EU have reached 38,082 million euros (43,890 million dollars), 8.9% more than a year before, while imports have grown to 22,137 million dollars (19,208 million euros), 3.9% more. At the same time, Chinese exports to the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which includes Vietnam, Malaysia or Singapore, has been 53,289 million dollars (46,237 million euros), 11% more, and imports 32,463 million dollars (28,167 million euros), 4.6% less.
Data between January and October
In this way, the accumulated data of the Chinese Government show that the country’s exports have reached until October a value of 2.7 billion euros (3.1 billion dollars)5.3% more than in the same period in 2024, while imports totaled 2.2 trillion dollars (1.8 trillion euros), 0.9% less. In it EU caseChinese exports until October have been 460,899 million dollars (399,910 million euros), 7.5% more, while imports fell 2.5%, to 219,268 million dollars (190,253 million euros).
Likewise, China’s sales to the US in this period have been reduced to 352,139 million dollars (305,542 million euros), 17.8% less, while imports fell 12.6%, to 118,719 million dollars (103,009 million euros).
