China reported the world’s largest trade surplus on record last year as its export growth accelerated into markets across Europe, Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia, flooding global supply chains with manufactured goods.
China’s overall trade surplus hit $1.19 trillion in 2025, a 20 per cent increase from 2024, citing figures released Wednesday by China’s General Administration of Customs.
For December alone, China posted a surplus of $114.14 billion, propelled by surging exports to multiple regions outside the United States, the paper reported.
The surplus continued widening even as U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs to contain Chinese exports. The New York Times reported China’s trade surplus with the United States fell 22 per cent last year, but Chinese factories increased sales to other markets and, in some cases, bypassed U.S. tariffs by shipping goods through intermediary countries.
The record surplus was released the same day Prime Minister Mark Carney arrived in Beijing, as Canada seeks to stabilize its trade relationship with China amid ongoing tariff disputes.
Chinese imports from Canada fell 10.4 per cent in 2025 to $41.7 billion, the first annual decline since 2020, during the pandemic.
Carney’s trip to China is the first by a Canadian prime minister since 2017 and is expected to focus on repairing a long-running rift that deepened after Ottawa imposed 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in 2024, a move Canada took in lockstep with the United States.
“China is our second-largest trading partner, and the world’s second-largest economy. A pragmatic and constructive relationship between our nations will create greater stability, security, and prosperity on both sides of the Pacific,” Carney said in a social media post cited by Reuters.
Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand told reporters in Beijing that talks on canola tariffs had been productive and would continue, while describing the bilateral relationship as “complex”.
China’s canola-related tariffs have been a key point of dispute, especially for Western Canadian producers.
China’s massive trade surplus has been supported by weak domestic demand, industrial overcapacity and a relatively weak local currency, which makes exports cheaper abroad while increasing the cost of imports.
The International Monetary Fund warned China’s continued reliance on export-led growth risks intensifying global trade tensions.
