China’s exports rose 35.2% in October from a year earlier in dollar terms, beating the 33.5% increase forecast in a Reuters poll, customs data showed Tuesday. Analysts credit global demand for artificial intelligence hardware. The gain lifted China’s trade surplus for the first 10 months of 2026 to $1.04 trillion.
Exports reached $412.3 billion, while imports jumped 41.6% to $307.1 billion, far above the 32% rise forecast in the Reuters poll. Faster import growth narrowed October’s surplus to $105.3 billion, the smallest since April according to LSEG data cited by CNBC, down from $133.5 billion in September.
Export growth eased slightly from 36.3% in September. Analysts tied the strength to demand for computer chips, data-center servers and networking equipment, and CNBC calculated that imports of high-tech products rose 72% by value.
Exports to the United States rose 32.9% and imports from the U.S. grew nearly 35%, leaving China with a $32.7 billion surplus with the U.S. for the month, CNBC reported. Shipments to the European Union rose 24.4% while imports from the bloc fell more than 4%, widening the surplus with the EU to $33.4 billion.
“Exporters have been the key driving force behind China’s economy this year,” Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, told AFP. Capital Economics estimated that exports fell about 2% from September on a seasonally adjusted basis.
The data come as a two-month extension of Beijing’s suspension of an additional 24% tariff on U.S. goods, announced Monday, took effect Tuesday. President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump are expected to meet at the APEC summit in Shenzhen on Nov. 18-19.
