Ministry of Commerce: China's Trade Surplus Driven by Global Demand, Not Policy; Current Account in Reasonable Range

Published: Jul 29, 2026 11:52

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[Ministry of Commerce: China Never Deliberately Pursues Trade Surplus; Overall, Current Account Surplus as a Share of GDP Is Within Internationally Recognized Reasonable Range] On July 28, the Ministry of Commerce released a document titled "China’s Position on the So-called 'Overcapacity' Issue," pointing out that China never deliberately pursues a trade surplus. China’s export growth stems from economies of scale and enhanced innovation capacity, as well as demand from other countries' green transition and industrialization. For example, China's export growth to Europe is mainly concentrated in PV, NEVs, lithium batteries, and chemical products, largely reflecting the demand for energy products driven by the green transition, and the energy crisis has raised production costs in European industries such as chemicals. China also never deliberately pursues export share in labor-intensive products; the share of such product exports dropped from 20.7% in 2012 to 15.1% in 2025. In terms of trade benefit distribution, "the surplus is in China, but the benefits are shared by all." In 2025, foreign-invested enterprises accounted for 27% of China's exports and 16% of its surplus, with both surplus and profit growth faster than those of domestic enterprises. From the perspective of the overall balance of payments, although China has a sizable surplus in goods trade, it runs deficits in services trade and investment income. Overall, the current account surplus accounts for about 3.7% of GDP, which is within the internationally recognized reasonable range.

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