China's trade surplus tops trillion-dollar mark for first time

BEIJING - China’s exports rebounded in November after an unexpected drop the previous month, pushing the trade surplus past US$1 trillion (S$1.3 trillion) for the first time in any year.

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China’s Customs agency announced on Dec 8 that the country's accumulated trade surplus reached US$1.08 trillion through November, up 21.7 per cent from the same period in 2024.

For November alone, exports rose 5.9 per cent from a year earlier, higher than the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists for 4 per cent. Imports climbed only 1.9 per cent, bringing the surplus for the month to US$112 billion.

The milestone reached by China’s surplus follows recent deescalation of tensions with the Trump administration, and will draw scrutiny from trading partners having to contend with pressure on domestic industries from cheaper goods.

It also underscores how Beijing is struggling to rebalance the economy away from its dependence on demand abroad, with net exports accounting for almost a third of economic growth in 2025.