China Q1 2026 Trade Profile: Exports At Scale, Imports More Volatile
Machinery dominated exports and imports, reflecting China’s role across the electronics value chain; gold and high-value inputs drove import swings.
Machinery dominated exports and imports, reflecting China’s role across the electronics value chain; gold and high-value inputs drove import swings.
Private firms now dominate China’s exports, while trade growth has structurally moderated.
A small group of highly specialised zones anchors China’s trade machine.
Broad-based growth across partners and sectors, led by machinery and transport equipment, signals renewed strength in China’s export engine.
Asia's scale, speed and integration are no longer concentrated in a single core, but spread across multiple, complementary engines.
Global lithium output is expanding in Australia and Chile, but China dominates processing and battery exports, capturing most of the downstream value.
Diverging energy import dependence across Asia is enabling more targeted investment across the region.
Manufacturing scale, strong export growth and deepening services trade are repositioning Türkiye as a cost-competitive supply base for Europe.
Fast-growing Asian economies span frontier markets, manufacturing hubs and large domestic systems, highlighting uneven pathways to scale.
Steady growth, strong domestic demand and rising FDI are shifting Indonesia from a commodity-led model toward downstream industrialisation.