BEIJING: China said Wednesday trade volumes reached a record last year, as global demand for Chinese goods held firm despite a slump in exports to the US after President Donald Trump raised tariffs.

Trade in 2025 "surpassed 45 trillion yuan ($6.4 trillion) for the first time, setting a new historical high," vice customs minister Wang Jun told a press conference in Beijing.

Exports, which have traditionally been the main driver of the world's second-largest economy, rose 6.1% in 2025 from the previous year.

Imports were up 0.5%, customs data showed.

"Some country has politicized trade issues and limited high-tech exports to China, if they hadn't, we would have imported more," Wang said, in a veiled reference to Trump's tariffs.

Looking ahead to 2026, China's market will "open more" and "still be an opportunity for the world," he added.

Last year, China posted an annual trade surplus of $1 trillion for the first time, as a sharp drop in shipments to the United States was offset by surging exports to other major markets.

Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump reached a tentative truce to their fierce trade war when they met in late October, agreeing on a pause to painful measures that included lofty tit-for-tat tariffs.

Exports have served as a key economic lifeline for China as trade and relations with the United States and others have fluctuated in recent years.

That has helped temper a prolonged debt crisis in the country’s vast property sector and sluggish domestic spending, which have weighed on growth and are among the most pressing issues facing Beijing.

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