China’s surplus has also been driven by a host of small-ticket items including a surge in low-value packages — the business model employed by online retailers such as Shein and Temu, which have come under fire in the US and EU for taking advantage of duty-free loopholes.

President Trump’s tariffs weren’t enough to hold back the global export flood by China, which pushed past last year’s record in just 11 months.

China's exports returned to growth in November after an unexpected contraction in October, pushing its trade surplus for 2025 past the $1 trillion mark for the first time.

The historic milestone comes as China adds high-end manufacturing strength to its established dominance in lower-end goods.

French President Emmanuel Macron warned that the European Union may be forced to take “strong measures” against China, including potential tariffs, if Beijing fails to address its widening trade imbalance with the bloc.

The head of the International Monetary Fund has urged China to fix its economic imbalances, echoing longstanding calls for the world's second-largest economy to rely more on domestic spending and investment instead of exports.

China's exports to the U.S. have dropped sharply this year, in the face of President Trump's tariffs — but the country is still finding plenty of customers elsewhere around the world.