China’s export machine strengthens in August as trade imbalance concerns mount

Sherry Wangin BeijingPublished: 10:41am, 8 Sep 2026Updated: 6:20pm, 8 Sep 2026China’s exports continued to beat expectations in August, buoyed by strong demand for tech products and pre-Christmas orders that offset severe weather disruptions, though analysts warned the country’s widening trade imbalances remained a concern among Western policymakers.

The country’s exports rose by 25 per cent year on year to US$401.44 billion last month, according to Chinese customs data released on Tuesday. The reading was above a forecast of 21.93 per cent growth from economists polled by financial data provider Wind. That compared with 23.9 per cent growth in July.

China also saw imports grow by 28.2 per cent last month to US$282.36 billion, slightly above the Wind poll’s projections of 28.07 per cent growth.

That brought China’s trade surplus to US$119.09 billion last month, up from US$112.5 billion in July. This marked the fourth consecutive month the surplus had stayed above US$100 billion.