Foreign trade "Good Start"! In the first two months, our country's import and export of goods increased by 18.3% year-on-year

The General Administration of Customs announced foreign trade data today. In the first two months of this year, various regions and departments actively took initiative and made efforts, and many foreign trade enterprises actively stabilized orders and expanded markets. China’s goods trade imports and exports increased by 18.3% year-on-year, marking a good start for foreign trade.

Since the beginning of the year, China’s overall foreign trade has continued to maintain steady progress, with resilience and vitality further demonstrated. In the first two months of 2026, China’s total goods trade imports and exports reached 7.73 trillion RMB, an increase of 18.3% year-on-year.

From the export perspective, new driving forces continue to exert influence, market diversification has shown significant results, and new business forms and models maintain growth. In the first two months, exports totaled 4.62 trillion RMB, an increase of 19.2%.

From the import perspective, the Spring Festival holiday boosted consumption, and import demand continued to be released. In the first two months, imports totaled 3.11 trillion RMB, an increase of 17.1%.

In terms of trade methods, in the first two months, general trade imports and exports reached 4.78 trillion RMB, up 13.5%; processing trade imports and exports reached 1.43 trillion RMB, up 19.3%; bonded logistics imports and exports reached 1.24 trillion RMB, up 36.9%.

From the trade partners’ perspective, in the first two months, China’s trade with ASEAN totaled 1.24 trillion RMB, an increase of 20.3%; trade with the European Union totaled 998.94 billion RMB, up 19.9%; trade with the United States totaled 609.71 billion RMB, down 16.9%. During the same period, China’s total imports and exports with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative reached 4.02 trillion RMB, an increase of 20%.

Regarding foreign trade entities, in the first two months, private enterprises’ imports and exports reached 4.51 trillion RMB, up 22.8%; foreign-invested enterprises’ imports and exports reached 2.2 trillion RMB, up 15.3%; state-owned enterprises’ imports and exports reached 1 trillion RMB, up 7.4%.

Yen Min, Director of the Macroeconomic Research Office of the National Information Center’s Economic Forecast Department: The beginning of 2026 has seen a “good start” for China’s foreign trade, which is the result of four major factors working together: a rebound in global demand, policy dividends being released, industrial advantages being highlighted, and micro-entity vitality bursting forth. Marginal improvement in global demand, with manufacturing PMI above the boom-bust line. China’s steady foreign trade policies are being implemented, and institutional opening-up is deepening, providing solid support for foreign trade. Chinese manufacturing has formed a dual-drive pattern of “emerging industries leading + traditional industries stabilizing,” with high growth in exports of mid-to-high-end manufacturing, and product competitiveness continuously consolidating. The good start lays a solid foundation for the whole year’s stable quantity and quality growth in foreign trade.

Experts also point out that there are still many uncertainties and unpredictable factors, especially recent intensification of geopolitical conflicts, which have brought significant shocks to international and supply chains. To stabilize the fundamentals of foreign trade, it is necessary to earnestly implement the deployments of the National Two Sessions, promote innovative development of trade, and make every effort to stabilize the scale and optimize the structure of foreign trade.

(Source: CCTV News Client)