Bright picture of China's economy, ASEAN becomes largest trading partner

Cargo containers at Shanghai Port, China. (Source: Getty)

According to the General Administration of Customs of China, since the beginning of the year, the country's economy has continued to recover and improve, and trade in goods has maintained strong resilience to external pressure.

Import and export turnover continued to grow, especially after the high-level economic and trade negotiations between China and the United States, the growth rate accelerated significantly.

Statistics from the General Administration of Customs of China show that in the first five months of 2025, the total value of goods imported and exported by the country reached 17,940 billion yuan (about 2,498 billion USD), an increase of 2.5% over the same period last year.

Of which, exports reached 10,670 billion yuan (about 1,486 billion USD), up 7.2% over the same period last year; imports reached 7,270 billion yuan (about 1,012 billion USD), down 3.8% over the same period last year.

In May 2025 alone, China's total import and export value of goods reached 3,810 billion yuan (about 530 billion USD), up 2.7%. Of which, exports reached 2,280 billion yuan (about 317 billion USD), up 6.3%; imports reached 1,530 billion yuan (about 213 billion USD), down 2.1%.

Regarding trade partners, the import and export turnover of the world's second largest economy with ASEAN and the EU both maintained growth momentum.

In the first five months of this year, ASEAN was China's largest trading partner, with total trade value reaching 3,020 billion yuan (about 420.5 billion USD), up 9.1%, accounting for 16.8% of the country's total trade turnover.

The EU is China's second largest trading partner, with a total trade value of 2.3 trillion yuan (about 320 billion USD), up 2.9%, accounting for 12.8%. The US is China's third largest trading partner.

Regarding import and export subjects, import and export turnover of private enterprises and foreign-invested enterprises continued to increase.

In the first five months of the year, imports and exports of private enterprises reached 10.25 trillion yuan (about 1.427 trillion USD), up 7 percent, accounting for 57.1 percent of China's total foreign trade, up 2.4 percentage points over the same period last year.

Of which, exports reached 6,970 billion yuan (about 970 billion USD), up 8%, accounting for 65.4% of total export turnover; imports reached 3,280 billion yuan (about 457 billion USD), up 4.9%, accounting for 45.1% of total import turnover.

In the same period, imports and exports of foreign-invested enterprises reached 5,210 billion yuan (about 725 billion USD), up 2.3%, accounting for 29% of the country's total foreign trade turnover.