In the complex international environment, China's foreign trade is showing remarkable stability and new vitality. On December 8, 2025, data released by the General Administration of Customs provided strong evidence: in November, the total value of China's goods trade imports and exports reached 3.9 trillion yuan, with a year-on-year growth rate of 4.1%, and has achieved 10 consecutive months of year-on-year growth since February. Of particular note is that in November, the year-on-year growth rates of exports of 2.35 trillion yuan and imports of 1.55 trillion yuan accelerated by 6.5 and 0.3 percentage points respectively compared to the previous month, achieving a stable trend of both year-on-year and month on month growth, highlighting the strong foundation of foreign trade.

Looking at the overall performance of the first 11 months, the total import and export value of China reached 41.21 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.6%. Behind this report card lies the deep optimization of China's foreign trade structure and the diversified evolution of growth drivers, forming a more resilient and dynamic new chart.

From ballast stones to new engines

The trade structure continues to optimize, and the endogenous driving force continues to strengthen. As a general trade of foreign trade ballast stones, the import and export volume in the first 11 months reached 26.04 trillion yuan, accounting for 63.2% of the total foreign trade value. Its stable growth highlights the integrity of the industrial chain and the improvement of added value.

At the same time, mechanical and electrical products, as the absolute mainstay of exports, have shown strong momentum, with exports increasing by 8.8% in the first 11 months, accounting for over 60% of the total export value. Among them, the new three categories representing high technology and high added value, as well as exports of ships, automobiles, integrated circuits, etc., continue to shine, with the growth rate of automobile exports reaching 25.6%. In addition, Chinese manufacturing is keenly capturing global consumer trends, with growth rates exceeding double digits for ice and snow sports products such as ice skates exported to Central and Eastern Europe and ski suits exported to North America in the second half of the year. These data collectively depict a clear path for China's exports to move from traditional manufacturing to high-end, intelligent, and green.

Private enterprises set sail and become the main force in the sea

Private enterprises play a crucial role in the growth of foreign trade. In the first 11 months, the import and export of private enterprises reached 23.52 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.1%, accounting for 57.1% of China's total foreign trade value, an increase of 1.8 percentage points compared to the same period last year. More active market entities are the source of vitality, and the number of private enterprises with import and export records increased by 66000 year-on-year during the same period. Lv Daliang, Director of the Statistics and Analysis Department of the General Administration of Customs, pointed out that private enterprises have actively recognized changes and responded flexibly, and their imports and exports have achieved dual growth for 9 consecutive months.

Expand your circle of friends and seek common development

In the face of changes in the global trade pattern, the diversified development of the Chinese market has achieved significant results, and the circle of friends continues to expand and deepen. In the first 11 months, China's imports and exports to its largest trading partner ASEAN amounted to 6.82 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.5%. The cornerstone of this partnership is solid, and China has maintained its position as the largest trading partner of ASEAN for 16 consecutive years. In addition, the trade cooperation with the countries jointly building the the Belt and Road is particularly close, with the import and export volume reaching 21.33 trillion yuan, accounting for 51.8% of the total foreign trade value.

It is worth noting that China's trade ties with the world are more extensive. In the first 11 months, China achieved simultaneous growth in exports and imports with over 110 countries and regions worldwide, an increase of more than 20 compared to the same period last year. Under the principle of open cooperation and mutual benefit, China has not only vigorously developed emerging markets such as Africa with a growth rate of 18.7% and Latin America with a growth rate of 5.6%, but also maintained stable trade with the European Union with a growth rate of 5.4%. It is worth mentioning that since China's zero tariff treatment for the least developed countries came into effect one year ago, the cumulative import scale of these countries has increased by more than 55 billion yuan, reflecting the concept of great power responsibility and shared development.

New highland of free trade unleashes surging momentum

The highland of institutional openness is becoming a new engine for foreign trade growth. With less than 0.4% of the country's land area, China's pilot free trade zones and Hainan Free Trade Port have created nearly one-fifth of the country's foreign trade volume. In the first 11 months, the total import and export of the two reached 8.07 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.2%. Especially in 10 days, on December 18, 2025, the Hainan Free Trade Port will launch a full island closure operation. Its import and export growth momentum is strong, with a year-on-year growth rate of 9.1% in November, indicating huge potential for the future.

The stability and prosperity of foreign trade also benefit from the continuous optimization of policy soft environment such as customs clearance facilitation. From the rapid export of seedlings and flowers from the Xinjiang Pilot Free Trade Zone, to the significant improvement of operational efficiency of the China Europe freight train schedule, and to the promotion of innovative models such as remote video inspection by customs, a series of measures have effectively reduced enterprise costs and improved the response speed of the industrial chain. Keywords: strategic news, export trade

Overall, the foreign trade data for November and the first 11 months is not only a series of positive figures, but also a vivid footnote to China's deep integration into the world, continuous transformation and upgrading of industries, and increasing resilience of enterprises. Driven by multiple engines, China's foreign trade giant is breaking through the waves and injecting stability and certainty into world economic growth.Editor/Cheng Liting