China’s trade resilience in 2025 shifts global container flows | Container news

China has stepped up efforts to diversify its export markets since Trump won the U.S. election, pursuing closer trade ties with the rest of Asia and the European Union. Chinese shipments to the United States dropped in the first eleven months of 2025, while exports to ASEAN (a regional grouping of all 11 states in southeast Asia) and the European Union grew significantly.

China’s foreign trade in goods has sustained strong resilience with steady growth in the first 11 months of 2025 despite external headwinds, according to data from China’s General Administration of Customs.

Observers said that the upbeat data, in particular with regard to a swift rebound in trade growth in November, underscored the competitiveness and resilience of China’s foreign trade engine.

China’s trade showed resilience as manufacturers seeking to avoid President Donald Trump’s tariffs shipped more to non-U.S. markets.

Customs data on Monday showed that China’s total goods imports and exports reached 41.21 trillion yuan (around $5.8 trillion), in the first 11 months of 2025, a year-on-year increase of 3.6%.

Exports during the January-November period were up 6.2 percent, while imports registered an increase of 0.2 percent.

In November alone, China’s trade growth rebounded, with total imports and exports reaching 3.9 trillion yuan, up 4.1 percent.

During the first 11 months, ASEAN was China’s largest trading partner, with total trade reaching 6.82 trillion yuan, an increase of 8.5%, accounting for 16.6% of China’s total foreign trade.

The EU was China’s second largest trading partner, with total trade reaching 5.37 trillion yuan, an increase of 5.4%.

The United States was China’s third largest trading partner, with total trade reaching 3.69 trillion yuan, a decrease of 16.9%, customs data showed.

Trump has sought to discourage US imports from China with hefty tariffs, but China has responded by exporting more to customers in Europe, Africa, and the rest of Asia.

According to ocean and air freight intelligence platform Xeneta, the US East Coast is less exposed than the US West Coast when it comes to US-China geopolitics.

51% of total containerized imports into the US West Coast come from China, but it is lower 24% into the US East Coast, which sees a higher proportion of goods coming in on Far East to US East Coast services arriving from the rest of the Far East.

A year-long trade truce between China and the U.S. was reached in late October.

Furthermore, the two countries have agreed to suspend the newly-introduced port fees on vessels linked to the other for one year, deescalating a dispute that has become a sticking point in their wider trade war.

The tension between the US and China had led to a temporary truce with positive messages from the two country’s leaders.

The Chinese and US delegations reached basic consensuses on arrangements to address their respective trade concerns in October, which raised expectations for a gradual recovery in bilateral trade.

Economists now expect China’s exports to remain resilient, with the country continuing to gain global market share next year.