Asia: China's trade surplus exceeds trillion threshold

New York. China's foreign trade broke the $1 trillion surplus threshold this year, continuing its record trajectory. As the Chinese customs authorities announced, the annual surplus, calculated in US dollars, was around 1.04 trillion US dollars (around 927 billion euros) as of October.

Exports and imports, calculated by value, once again exceeded analysts' expectations. Exports rose 35.2 percent year-on-year in October, according to customs data. Imports rose by 41.6 percent in the same comparative period.

A driver for the consistently high exports is the boom in artificial intelligence, which is ensuring constant demand abroad for technology goods and electrical products for AI expansion from China. At the same time, raw material purchases also caused China's imports to rise.

China's massive surplus is likely to further anger its trading partners. To Germany, for example, the People's Republic's exports rose by 33.5 percent in October compared to the previous year. Imports, on the other hand, fell by 2.6 percent.

The background is that China's government is relying on demand abroad in order to keep its economy on track for its self-imposed economic growth target of 4.5 to 5 percent this year. Falling imports from Europe also reflect weak demand in China, with imports from the United States, Southeast Asia and Africa increasing between 35 percent and 42 percent in October, according to customs data.