China’s exports returned to growth in November following an unexpected contraction the month before, although shipments to the United States dropped nearly 29% from a year earlier in an eighth straight month of double-digit declines.

China’s “hard power” in economics, science and technology has “significantly improved”, boasted the Communist Party’s Politburo at a meeting on the same day. China’s growing technological sophistication has also contributed to the surprising resilience of its exports.

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 on Thursday split off a Belgium-sized island with an economy comparable to a mid-ranked country from the mainland for customs processing, part of a bid to join a major trans-Pacific trade deal and establish a new Hong Kong-style commercial hub.

Delayed trade data has started to flow out from the US Census Bureau. More than a month behind schedule, the latest data on trade between the US and China is for September 2025.

China’s top leaders are signaling they are on alert for a potential flareup of tensions in global commerce as they draw up economic plans for next year, after amassing a record trade surplus despite the tariff war with the US.

China's export licence requirement for some 300 steel products will allow closer monitoring of steel exports and is aligned to World Trade Organization rules, the country's commerce ministry said on Thursday.

China’s exports beat forecasts in November amid a rebound of exports to the EU, while imports remained sluggish.

China provides opportunities that go well beyond traditional merchandize trade. It offers technology, industrial expertise, and partnerships at a scale unmatched anywhere else, said Minister of Commerce and Industry of Somalia Gamal Mohamed Hassan on Thursday.

Mexico’s decision last week to impose tariffs of up to 50 per cent on a wide swath of Chinese and other Asian imports is more than a neighbourhood scuffle. It is a major milestone in President Trump’s trade revolution — and in the postwar international trading system itself.

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.

Hainan is now a distinct customs zone from the rest of mainland China. The tropical island province is being positioned as a testbed for policy and trade openness amid mounting external headwinds, say analysts.