China's exports pick up in August, jumping 25% on strong demand for autos and high tech goods

BANGKOK (AP) — China’s exports accelerated in August, jumping 25% from a year earlier on strong demand for autos and high-tech goods, its customs agency said Tuesday. The data came ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s planned meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, set for late September, though Beijing has not yet confirmed the exact date for the visit.

Exports grew 23.9% year-on-year in July.

Imports climbed 28.2% in August from a year earlier, up from July’s 27.5% rise. That led to a $119.1 billion trade surplus for China, widening from $112.5 billion in July.

“China is very competitive in its tech goods exports,” said Chi Lo, a senior market strategist for Asia Pacific at BNP Paribas Asset Management. In recent years, rising exports of electric vehicles, industrial machinery and semiconductors have helped fuel China’s robust shipments globally. “China has moved aggressively up the value chain and has become a major player in AI infrastructure and industrial automation,” he said. China has also largely been weathering disruptions from the Iran war better than many countries, while it has also been exporting more to Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa, shielding it from impacts on its overall exports following elevated U.S. tariffs. Policymakers in the U.S. and in Europe have raised concerns over China’s ballooning trade surplus, which surged to a record $1.2 trillion for the whole of last year. Trade is expected to be among the key topics of discussion between Trump and Xi when the two leaders meet. The strategic stalemate between China and the U.S. will however likely remain, said Lo. “Both sides hold each other hostage in some strategic products, with the U.S. withholding high-end tech goods from being sold to China and China withholding rare-earth exports to the U.S.,” he said. China and the EU are also set to meet for ministerial level trade talks in the fall , as the EU grapples to reduce its around 1 billion euros a day of trade deficit with China. The EU has already implemented measures in July to protect its steel industry and has limited tax-exempt imports of Chinese e-commerce small parcels. At home, China is still struggling to boost its economy as consumption and investment remained sluggish following a yearslong real estate sector downturn. On Sunday, China said it was injecting around $54 billion into state banks and insurers to help lift its economy.