China’s Exports Up 25% in August... Trade Surplus with U.S. Also Grows 43%

Rare Earth Exports Also on the Rise

China’s exports in August increased by 25% year-on-year, while its trade surplus with the United States also expanded by 43%.

According to the General Administration of Customs of China on September 8, the country’s export value last month reached $401.44 billion (approximately KRW 540.4 trillion), representing a 25.0% increase compared to the same month last year. This figure surpasses the export growth rate of 23.9% in July. Imports in August amounted to $282.36 billion (about KRW 380 trillion), up by 28.2%.

The trade surplus stood at $119.09 billion (approximately KRW 160.3 trillion), a 6% increase from July. The accumulated trade surplus for this year reached $805.51 billion (about KRW 1,084.3 trillion), up 2.6% compared to the same period last year.

Containers are stacked at the Port of Nanjing, China. Photo by AFP Yonhap News Agency

In particular, exports to the United States in August totaled $42.4753 billion (about KRW 57.2 trillion), a 34.4% increase year-on-year. Imports from the United States were $13.2927 billion (about KRW 17.9 trillion), marking a 17.8% rise. As a result, China’s trade surplus with the U.S. in August stood at $29.1826 billion (approximately KRW 39.28 trillion), 43.6% higher than in August last year ($20.3191 billion). This is the largest trade gap between China and the U.S. since the Trump Administration was reinstated in January last year.

China’s total exports to South Korea in August amounted to $18.0114 billion (around KRW 24.2 trillion), a 49.3% year-on-year increase, while its total imports from South Korea reached $32.1575 billion (about KRW 43.3 trillion), up 108.1% compared to last year.

China’s rare earth exports in August were 4,735.1 tons, 12.1% higher than in July. The export value jumped by 42.1% to $73.5 million (approximately KRW 100 billion). However, the cumulative export volume this year was 39,441.4 tons, down 11.1% from the same period last year, while the total export value during this period increased by 53.5%.

China exported 30.74 billion integrated circuits in August, down 7.9% year-on-year. Nevertheless, thanks to the global surge in semiconductor prices, the export value surged by 129.8% to $40.7314 billion (roughly KRW 54.8 trillion). Compared to July this year, export volume decreased by 5.1%, while export value rose by 5.1%.

August imports of integrated circuits totaled 54.29 billion units, a 6.7% increase year-on-year. The import value reached $65.8238 billion (about KRW 88.6 trillion), up 78.1%. Compared to the previous month, import volume fell by 9.5%, while import value increased by 3.1%.

The General Administration of Customs explained that the total export value of ‘high-tech products’ in August reached $124.4671 billion (about KRW 167.5 trillion). For January to August this year, it was $847.8319 billion (about KRW 1,141.3 trillion), a 42.9% increase compared to the same period last year.

Automobile exports totaled 1.047 million units, up 37.2% year-on-year, and export value rose by 43.0% to $18.3305 billion (approximately KRW 24.7 trillion).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.