Guangzhou (JLC), April 14, 2026--China's foreign trade reached 11.84 trillion yuan (about 1.69 trillion US dollars) in the first quarter (Q1) of 2026, surpassing 11 trillion yuan for the first time on record over the same period, according to the General Administration of Customs of the PRC (GACC).
The year-on-year growth rate stood at 15.0%, the highest in the past five years, Wang Jun, vice minister of the GACC, said at a press conference.
Specifically, the country's exports soared by 11.9% to 6.85 trillion yuan in Q1, while its imports jumped by 19.6% to 4.99 trillion yuan.
In March alone, China's foreign trade increased by 9.2% year on year to 4.10 trillion yuan, with exports slipping by 0.7% to 2.23 trillion yuan while imports leaping by 23.8% to 1.87 trillion yuan, the GACC data shows.
In the first three months, the country's foreign trade by ordinary trade gained 9.0% to 7.18 trillion yuan, which accounted for about 60.6% of the total.
The foreign trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, China's largest trading partner, grew by 15.4% to 1.97 trillion yuan in the period, which took up 16.6% of China's foreign trade.
At the same time, the trade with the European Union, China's second-largest trading partner, rose by 14.6% to 1.49 trillion yuan.
In contrast, the trade with the US slumped by 18.7% to 901.67 billion yuan in Q1, the GACC data indicates.
