Import Export China

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Published on: December 2, 2020 / update from: May 24, 2023 - Author: Konrad Wolfenstein

Import Export China – Shanghai Skyline – Image: chuyuss|Shutterstock.com

China is also increasingly dependent on imports

The country's major imported products include machinery and electronics such as vehicles, integrated circuits, chemicals, metallurgical products, mineral products (crude oil, iron ore, etc.), rubber, plastics in primary forms and textiles.

The Chinese agricultural sector has also become increasingly dependent on imports in recent years. China is the world's largest importer of soybeans and meat and is a leading importer of dairy products, wine, other foods and drinks.

In 2013, China became the world's leading trading nation, overtaking the United States. China's total imports and exports reached 31.5 trillion yuan in 2019. The trade value of goods imports exceeded $2 trillion this year, accounting for nearly 14 percent of global imports and making China the world's second-largest importing nation. As for services trade, travel and transportation-related service imports account for around 75 percent of all service imports in China.

China's most important import partners in 2019 were the ASEAN countries, the European Union, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan. While imports from the United States still exceed $100 billion annually, they have been declining since 2017 due to the ongoing trade war and import tariffs between the two countries.

Despite the upward trend in China's imports, the country's exports far exceed its imports, creating the world's largest trade surplus. In 2019, China had a positive trade balance of over $420 billion. However, unlike trade in goods, trade in services is facing a deepening deficit, with service imports to China outstripping exports by nearly $300 billion annually.

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The United States and China are the world's largest economies with a complex and long-standing trading relationship. As of 2019, China was the third largest export market for the United States, after Canada and Mexico. United States commodity exports to China have increased significantly over the past two decades but have declined since a trade war began in 2018.

In 2019, the United States exported about $107 billion worth of goods to China, the lowest figure since 2011. Still, China was among the top five export destinations for goods for most countries that year.

Exports from China - Exports from China

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