According to data released by the General Administration of Customs on September 8, in August 2026, China's goods trade exports reached $401.44 billion, up 25.0% year-on-year, representing an increase of 1.1 percentage points from the previous month. Imports totaled $282.36 billion, up 28.2% year-on-year, an increase of 0.6 percentage points from the prior month. Both export and import growth rates continued to rise at elevated levels in August, demonstrating sustained resilience.
Exports rebounded at higher levels, driven by the AI industry chain and the recovery of traditional advantageous products. By product category, the AI industry chain remains the core driver of export growth. In August, exports of integrated circuits and automatic data processing equipment grew by 129.8% and 76.5% year-on-year respectively, collectively contributing 11.3 percentage points to export growth. Labor-intensive goods continued their recovery, with exports of clothing, footwear, luggage, toys, and furniture all returning to rapid growth. Although equipment manufacturing products such as automobiles and ships saw growth rates moderate due to high base figures and delivery schedules, they still maintained considerable resilience.
By market, export growth rates to the United States, South Korea, Africa, and Latin America increased further, while exports to ASEAN and the European Union declined. This reflects both base effects and factors including the strength of the AI industry chain, industrialization demand in emerging markets, and changes in the trade environment. Looking ahead, global manufacturing sentiment and AI industry chain demand are still expected to provide support. However, as base figures rise and uncertainty around U.S. tariff policies and global trade frictions increases, year-on-year export growth may experience some fluctuations.
Imports continued their relatively fast growth, supported by both a low base and AI industry chain demand. On one hand, import values in the corresponding period last year were at a relatively low level, providing some support for year-on-year growth. On the other hand, the domestic AI industry chain continues to be prosperous, generating strong import demand for integrated circuits, automatic data processing equipment, and related raw materials. In August, unwrought copper and copper products, integrated circuits, and automatic data processing equipment together contributed 15.8 percentage points to import growth, accounting for 56% of the increase in import volumes. In contrast, crude oil imports exhibited a "rising prices with falling volumes" trend, with a substantial decline in imported quantities pulling import values lower.
More notably, China's export competitiveness is extending from manufacturing advantages further into technological innovation and service capabilities. Since the beginning of this year, the "New Three Emerging" industries — artificial intelligence, robotics, and innovative drugs — have begun to stand out. Compared to the "Old Three" and "New Three" categories, which are primarily carried by tangible goods, the value creation of the "New Three Emerging" is no longer confined to the products themselves. In AI, beyond hardware exports such as chips and servers, models, algorithms, and digital services are becoming new sources of value. Robotics is expanding from equipment exports to include software, systems integration, and operations and maintenance services. Innovative drugs are extending from tangible products like APIs, generics, and formulations towards R&D licensing, clinical development, and global commercialization.
Meanwhile, from January to July 2026, China's service trade exports grew 22.2% year-on-year, with the service trade deficit narrowing 12.8% year-on-year. Exports of intellectual property royalties increased 48.4% year-on-year. Going forward, observing China's export competitiveness requires looking beyond customs-measured goods exports to also focus on new cross-border value creation methods such as technology, intellectual property, solutions, and digital services.
Exports rebounded at higher levels, dominated by the AI industry chain while traditional advantageous products recovered
August exports maintained a strong growth trajectory. China's exports grew 25.0% year-on-year in August, up 1.1 percentage points from the previous month, marking the third consecutive month of growth above 20%. Cumulative exports from January to August grew 19.3% year-on-year, the highest level for the corresponding period since 2022. The continuation of external demand prosperity provided strong support for maintaining high export growth. The global manufacturing PMI rose to 52.3% in August, a three-month high, remaining in expansion territory for 13 consecutive months.
By market, China's export growth rates to the United States, South Korea, Africa, and Latin America increased further, while exports to ASEAN and the European Union moderated. This reflects both base effects and divergent demand and trade environments across regions. In August, China's exports to the United States, South Korea, Africa, and Latin America grew 34.4%, 49.3%, 30.9%, and 17.5% year-on-year respectively, up 17.4, 2.6, 12.7, and 3.6 percentage points from the previous month. The notable improvement in exports to the United States was supported on one hand by the low base from last year's China-U.S. tariff frictions, and on the other hand by a period of relative stability in China-U.S. tariffs. Recently, the U.S. government has launched a new Section 301 investigation into China's so-called "structural overcapacity" and related issues. Relevant measures could potentially land in September, which warrants close monitoring.
Exports to South Korea maintained relatively fast growth, closely linked to the continued strength of the AI industry chain, with intermediate goods trade such as integrated circuits and electronic components growing strongly. Exports to emerging markets such as Africa and Latin America continued to be supported by local industrialization and infrastructure construction demand, with intermediate and capital goods used for production and investment maintaining fast growth.
In contrast, China's exports to ASEAN and the EU grew 30.2% and 6.6% year-on-year respectively in August, down 8.2 and 9.3 percentage points from the prior month. Although ASEAN export growth moderated, it remained at a relatively high level, mainly affected by the high base from the same period last year, when China's export growth to ASEAN had reached its annual peak. The further slowdown in EU export growth is mainly related to the continued escalation of EU trade barriers against China.
By product category, AI industry chain products sustained high growth, labor-intensive goods continued their recovery, and equipment manufacturing products such as automobiles and ships maintained resilience despite moderating growth due to high bases and delivery schedules.
First, the AI industry chain remains the core driver of export growth, also boosting exports of certain consumer electronics products. In August, exports of integrated circuits and automatic data processing equipment grew 129.8% and 76.5% year-on-year respectively, up 13.3 and 9.1 percentage points from the prior month, collectively contributing 11.3 percentage points to monthly export growth. Additionally, the sustained AI industry boom pushed up prices of related products such as storage equipment, contributing to higher export values of consumer electronics including mobile phones. August mobile phone exports grew 29.6% year-on-year, with average export prices up 50.0% while export volumes fell 13.6%, exhibiting a distinct "strong prices, weak volumes" pattern, indicating that high growth in some consumer electronics exports was also supported by price appreciation.
Second, labor-intensive goods exports continued their recovery, with traditional advantageous products providing increasing support to exports. In August, exports of clothing, footwear, luggage, toys, and furniture grew 12.3%, 11.5%, 11.1%, 15.3%, and 11.8% year-on-year respectively, up 3.8, 8.7, 3.8, 17.0, and 0.6 percentage points from the previous month, mainly driven by the phased recovery in exports to the United States. From January to August 2026, cumulative exports of the above labor-intensive goods grew 0.7% year-on-year, ending five consecutive months of negative growth, indicating that traditional advantageous product exports are gradually improving.
Third, export growth of equipment manufacturing products such as automobiles and ships moderated, primarily due to high base effects and delivery schedules, while overall export resilience remained strong. In August, exports of automobiles (including chassis) and ships grew 43.0% and 21.0% year-on-year respectively, down 17.3 and 71.3 percentage points from the prior month. The pronounced moderation in ship export growth reflects both the relatively high export value in August of the previous year raising the base and the elevated ship export value in July of this year which inflated July's year-on-year growth. Entering August, under the combined effect of a high base and changes in ship delivery schedules, year-on-year growth declined notably, though August export values still represented the second-highest monthly level of the year. From January to August, cumulative exports of automobiles (including chassis) and ships grew 53.2% and 35.2% year-on-year respectively, remaining important pillars of export growth.
Looking ahead, global manufacturing sentiment and AI industry chain demand are expected to continue supporting exports, with traditional labor-intensive goods showing marginal improvement. However, as base figures rise and uncertainty around U.S. tariff policies and global trade frictions increases, year-on-year export growth may fluctuate to some extent. Structurally, the AI industry chain, high-end equipment, and emerging market demand will remain important sources of export resilience.
Imports continued relatively fast growth, supported by low base and AI industry chain demand
August imports maintained relatively rapid growth. China's imports grew 28.2% year-on-year in August, up 0.6 percentage points from the previous month. On the one hand, import values in the corresponding period of the previous year were at a relatively low level, with the low base providing support for year-on-year growth. On the other hand, continued prosperity in the domestic AI industry chain generated strong import demand for integrated circuits, automatic data processing equipment, and related raw materials, serving as an important force underpinning import growth.
AI industry chain related goods contributed significantly to import growth. In August, imports of unwrought copper and copper products, integrated circuits, and automatic data processing equipment grew 28.5%, 83.6%, and 209.1% year-on-year respectively, collectively contributing 15.8 percentage points to import growth and accounting for 56% of the increase in import values. The shift in import structure reflects, on one hand, the demand for equipment and raw materials arising from the rapid development of the domestic AI industry, and on the other hand, indicates that certain high-end computing-related products and key segments still need to be partially met through imports.
By contrast, crude oil imports continued to decline. Rising international oil prices increased import costs, but the decline in imported volumes was even greater. In August, the volume of China's crude oil imports fell 23.4% year-on-year, declining for six consecutive months. During the same period, average import prices rose 18.9% year-on-year, though this was insufficient to offset the impact of lower volumes, resulting in an 8.9% year-on-year decline in crude oil import values. This presents a clear pattern of "rising prices with falling volumes."
The "New Three Emerging" are emerging, extending China's export competitiveness from manufacturing advantages towards technology and services
Since joining the WTO, China's export profile has evolved from the "Old Three" — clothing, furniture, and home appliances — to the "New Three" — new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaic products — reflecting an upgrade in China's export competitive advantage from low-cost manufacturing towards industrial chain and scale manufacturing strengths. From January to July 2026, exports of the "New Three" and "Old Three" categories grew 51.5% and 3.0% year-on-year respectively, contributing 2.3 and 0.2 percentage points to overall export growth. Meanwhile, the "New Three Emerging" — artificial intelligence, robotics, and innovative drugs — have begun to emerge, with China's export competitiveness extending further from manufacturing advantages towards technological innovation and service capabilities.
Compared to the "Old Three" and "New Three," which primarily export tangible goods, the value creation of the "New Three Emerging" is no longer limited to the products themselves but increasingly spans technology, intellectual property, solutions, and digital services. In the AI industry, beyond hardware exports such as chips and servers, models, algorithms, and digital services are becoming new sources of value. Robotics exports, in addition to equipment delivery, are further enriched with software, systems integration, and operations and maintenance services. Pharmaceutical exports are also progressively extending from tangible products such as APIs, generics, and formulations towards innovative drug R&D licensing, clinical development, and global commercialization.
AI going global exhibits a parallel development pattern of "hardware exports plus digital services." From January to July 2026, exports of AI industry chain goods reached $582.8 billion, up 50.1% year-on-year, with their share of China's overall exports rising to 23.1%. Chips, servers, and other hardware products remain important carriers of the AI industry's exports. Meanwhile, AI models, algorithms, and digital services can also be delivered directly to overseas users through APIs, cloud services, and software subscriptions, extending exports from hardware products to recurring software and service revenue. OpenRouter data shows that in the final week of August 2026, model invocations on the platform reached 113 trillion tokens, with Chinese models on the leaderboard recording 55.16 trillion tokens, approximately 49% of the total.
Robotics represent the typical example of "equipment exports" extending towards "product plus solutions." In 2025, China's industrial robot export scale exceeded imports for the first time, making the country a net exporter of industrial robots. In the first half of 2026, China's industrial robot exports reached 6.29 billion yuan, up 18.6% year-on-year. Once robots enter overseas factories, supporting services such as systems integration, commissioning and training, and after-sales maintenance are required. Thus, while customs statistics capture the goods exports of robots, what enterprises actually deliver increasingly includes full life-cycle solutions built around the equipment.
The global expansion of innovative drugs reflects a shift in China's pharmaceutical exports from "manufacturing capability going global" towards "R&D capability going global." Previously, China's pharmaceutical exports relied more on manufacturing advantages in APIs, generics, and formulations, primarily manifested as physical drug exports. In recent years, innovative drug globalization has progressively expanded from simply selling drugs to include R&D licensing, clinical development, and overseas commercialization. What enterprises deliver is no longer just the drugs themselves but also drug patents, clinical data, and R&D outcomes. In the first half of 2026, the potential aggregate value of China's innovative drug out-licensing transactions reached approximately $110 billion, reaching 80% of the full-year transaction value for 2025.
These developments are also beginning to be reflected in service trade data. According to State Administration of Foreign Exchange figures, from January to July 2026, China's service trade exports reached $257.84 billion, up 22.2% year-on-year. During the same period, the service trade deficit narrowed 12.8% year-on-year. Among these, intellectual property royalties exports grew 48.4% year-on-year, notably higher than the overall service trade export growth rate. Although the service trade remains in overall deficit, the narrowing deficit and rapid growth of high value-added service exports confirm the extension of China's export competitiveness from traditional manufacturing towards technology and services.
The "New Three Emerging" represent not merely an increase in export categories, but an upgrade in the way Chinese enterprises participate in the global division of labor. Observing China's export competitiveness in the future cannot rely solely on goods exports under customs measurement; it also requires attention to new cross-border value creation methods such as technology, intellectual property, solutions, and digital services. From the "Old Three" to the "New Three," and then to the emerging "New Three Emerging," the substance of China's export competitiveness is extending from manufacturing capability towards innovation and service capabilities.
Risk warnings: trade policy changes in major export markets exceeding expectations, geopolitical conflict developments exceeding expectations.