China's annual trade surplus hits a record $1.2 trillion as December exports sharply beat estimates

China's exports growth in December sharply beat expectations, catapulting the annual trade surplus to a record high, even as imports rose at their fastest pace in three months.

Exports surged 6.6% in U.S. dollar terms last month from a year earlier, Chinese customs data showed Wednesday, topping analysts' median estimate for a 3% growth and accelerating from a 5.9% jump in November.

Imports rose 5.7% in December from a year earlier, topping expectations for a 0.9% growth — strongest since September last year when they rose 7.4%, according to LSEG data.

China's exports for the full year grew 5.5% compared to 2024 while imports stayed flat, taking Beijing's trade surplus to $1.19 trillion.

Trade tensions with the U.S. have led to double-digit declines in Chinese shipment to the country for most part of last year.

As Chinese exporters have ramped up shipments to non-U.S. markets, the growing trade imbalance has prompted concerns from major trading partners, including the European Union.

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva in a December press conference urged Beijing to shift away from relying on exports for growth and accelerate its push to boost domestic consumption.

Chinese officials had pledged to expand imports and work toward balancing trade.

Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, expects Beijing to keep the macro policy stance unchanged at least in the first quarter, as strong export growth helps mitigate soft domestic demand and trade tensions with the U.S. have eased.

China and U.S. in October agreed to roll back a series of export-control measures and higher tariffs in a 1-year trade truce, following a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his American counterpart Donald Trump.

While overall exports saw robust growth in 2025, trade tensions with the U.S. had led to double-digit declines in Chinese shipment to the country for most part of last year.

China is set to release next Monday its annual and fourth-quarter gross domestic product data. Economists polled by Reuters expected the world's second largest economy to have expanded 4.5% in the final quarter. Beijing had set it growth target for 2025 at around 5%.

The nearly $19 trillion economy has struggled to shake off deflationary pressure as a deepening real estate collapse has weighed on household demand and a weak job market has clouded consumer confidence. Consumer prices in the country stayed flat in 2025, missing the official target of around 2% increase.

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