China's Total Trade Volume Hits All-Time High Last Year, Up 3.8% to 9.63 Trillion Dollars (Comprehensive)

Nine Consecutive Years of Growth Since 2017
General Administration of Customs: "Longest Growth Streak Since WTO Accession"

Last year, China’s trade volume surpassed 45.4 trillion yuan (9.6 trillion dollars), reaching an all-time high. While exports to the United States declined, exports to other regions such as Europe increased, contributing to this record.

On January 14, the General Administration of Customs of China announced that the country’s total imports and exports for last year reached 45.47 trillion yuan (approximately 9.632 trillion dollars), up 3.8% from the previous year.

Exports amounted to 26.99 trillion yuan (about 5.718 trillion dollars), an increase of 6.1% year-on-year. During the same period, imports rose by 0.5% to 18.48 trillion yuan (about 3.915 trillion dollars). With exports growing at a faster pace, China’s trade surplus also hit a record high of 1.189 trillion dollars (1.757 trillion dollars) last year.

All three indicators-exports, imports, and total trade volume-set new all-time highs in 2024. At a press conference, Wang Jun, Deputy Director of the General Administration of Customs, stated, “Despite a complex and unstable international environment, China’s imports and exports have grown for nine consecutive years. This marks the longest continuous growth streak since joining the World Trade Organization (WTO).”

Deputy Director Wang emphasized, “Although the overall growth in foreign trade this year is expected to be limited and the external environment for China’s foreign trade development remains challenging and complex, our trading partners are becoming more diverse, and our resilience to risks has significantly improved, making our fundamentals solid.”

Last year, China traded with 240 countries, and trade volume grew with 190 of them. Trade with the United States reached 4.01 trillion yuan (about 849 billion dollars), accounting for 8.8% of China’s total imports and exports.

Lu Daliang, spokesperson and Deputy Director-General of the Department of Statistics and Analysis at the General Administration of Customs, stated, “Through multiple rounds of negotiations, the China-U.S. trade teams have achieved positive results, and bilateral trade relations have eased to some extent. According to trade statistics from both countries, China is the United States’ third-largest export destination and third-largest source of imports.”

He added, “Both sides must cooperate to implement the agreements reached at the summit between the two countries, continue to specify the list of issues and expand the list of areas for cooperation through dialogue and consultation. In this way, economic and trade relations can serve as the backbone and driving force of China-U.S. relations.”

The General Administration of Customs reported that trade with Belt and Road Initiative partner countries reached 23.6 trillion yuan (about 5.001 trillion dollars), up 6.3% year-on-year and accounting for 51.9% of China’s total trade volume.

In particular, trade with ASEAN, Latin America, and Africa was recorded at 7.55 trillion yuan (about 1.6 trillion dollars), 3.93 trillion yuan (about 833 billion dollars), and 2.49 trillion yuan (about 527 billion dollars), respectively. These figures represent year-on-year increases of 8.0%, 6.5%, and 18.4%.