China's trade booms as focus turns to expected Trump-Xi summit

China's imports and exports surged in August, helped by a global AI buildout that has fuelled demand for technology products and ahead of an expected meeting between President Xi Jinping and US counterpart Donald Trump.

After achieving a historic surplus in 2025, China's trade has continued to grow this year, thanks largely to heightened overseas demand for semiconductors, computing hardware and other products linked to the artificial intelligence boom.

Exports spiked 25 percent year-on-year, the General Administration of Customs said, accelerating from July's 23.9 percent growth, though the increase was just short of the 25.9 percent forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

Imports swelled 28.2 percent, which was faster than July's 27.5 percent but less than the 31.0 percent estimated in the Bloomberg survey.

"China's trade growth remained robust in August, with both exports and imports continuing to grow at a rapid pace," wrote Nguyen Hoang Nam, a China economist at Capital Economics.

Still, momentum in imports weakened in seasonally adjusted terms, wrote Nguyen, reflecting "still-subdued domestic demand".

Strong overseas shipments have offered a key lifeline for the Chinese economy in recent months, with domestic activity has been in the doldrums.

"The latest improvement in imports... looks more consistent with stronger corporate spending on computing capacity, electronics and manufacturing investment than with a broad recovery in household consumption," Alicia Garcia-Herrero, Asia-Pacific chief economist at Natixis, told AFP.

Data published last week showed factory activity contracted in August for a second straight month, despite the rise in overseas demand.

New export growth this year has come from the global AI sector, adding to strengths in other areas including electric vehicles, consumer goods and industrial equipment.

From January through to August, the value of China's exports of computers and related parts surged 49.4 percent, the customs data showed.

"China continues to rely on the exporters to support the economy," wrote Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management.

The country's cumulative trade surplus through the end of August had reached $805.5 billion, the customs data showed -- on pace to surpass last year's record.

But growing asymmetries with several key trading partners have also presented political issues, as officials overseas argue that waves of Chinese imports are crowding out local competition.

"The US government made it clear at the G20 meeting that they are concerned about this (trade imbalance) issue," Zhang wrote.

Shipments to the United States climbed 34.4 percent year-on-year last month, compared with the 17 percent increase seen in July. 

The latest figures come before Xi and Trump's expected high-stakes summit in Washington this month.

Last year's global tariff onslaught unleashed by the US president sparked renewed turmoil in the countries' trade relationship.

Sky-high levies imposed by Washington and matched by Beijing were tentatively relaxed late last year, after a move by China to severely restrict flows of rare earths to the United States.

One focus for the United States at this month's Trump-Xi meeting will be "trying to stop China from moving up the ladder on AI, but the data shows they are", Garcia-Herrero told AFP.

In August, "the share of shipments going directly to the United States stabilised at around 10 percent, while the share going to ASEAN remained elevated," wrote Nguyen, referring to the bloc of Southeast Asian nations.

China's bilateral surpluses with the European Union and the United Kingdom also remained "exceptionally large" in August, Nguyen wrote, "adding to already elevated trade tensions and raising the prospect of further protectionist measures in the region".