Monthly value of exports from China 2022-2024
In May 2024, Chinese exports amounted to around 302.35 billion U.S. dollars. This indicated a slight increase in exports compared to the same period of the previous year.
Export trade in China
China overtook the United States as the world’s largest trading nation in 2013. In the years that followed, the country remained one of the strongest players in global and regional trade. According to the IMF, China’s total gross domestic product (GDP) had ranged at around 17.66 trillion U.S. dollars in 2023. Thus, exports of goods had accounted for more than a third of China’s total economic output that year. In 2023, China’s trade surplus amounted to 823.22 billion U.S. dollars.
Since the implementation of various reform strategies in 1979, China’s economic development has largely profited from its export-led growth strategy. In 2023, the most important export partner for China was ASEAN. Automatic data processing machines, clothes, and integrated circuits were among China’s main export goods. It is noticeable that China’s comparative advantage nowadays lies not only in labor-intensive manufactured goods. Over the past years, China has steadily moved up the global value chain by increasing the export share of high technology products such as computers and power devices.
China has been frequently accused of currency manipulation by other countries. The country is criticized for deliberately keeping its currency yuan undervalued, to give Chinese goods export advantages.
