China responds to criticism of trade

Wang spoke of an open market in China and pointed out that the People’s Republic is the second largest import market in the world with an ever-growing middle class. “We will promote balanced trade development mainly by stabilizing exports while expanding imports,” Wang said. To achieve this, imports of agricultural products, high-value consumer goods, advanced technology equipment and key components will be increased, he announced.

Imbalance in trade

According to official data, China’s exports rose by 5.5 percent in 2025 compared to the previous year to a total value of around 3.8 trillion US dollars (around 3.27 trillion euros). Imports remained unchanged at around $2.6 trillion, resulting in a record surplus. This highlights the imbalance in China’s export-driven economy, which produces and exports a lot to the global market, but imports little from abroad due to weak domestic demand. German companies have also been complaining about weak demand for a long time.

Foreign countries are defending themselves with protective measures. The USA introduced high tariffs on steel, solar systems and electric cars from China under President Donald Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden. The EU imposed additional surcharges on electric cars in autumn 2024 after an anti-subsidy investigation found unfair subsidies for manufacturers in China that led to market distortion in Europe.

In the first two months of this year, foreign trade retained the “special features” from last year, Wang said. Official data is not yet available. Wang added that in the tense world situation, there is great pressure to stabilize foreign trade. The recent geopolitical conflicts have disrupted the international economic and trade order as well as global supply chains and made the situation more uncertain and unstable.