China's June Exports Hit Record High, Driven by AI Investment Boom

(Central News Agency reporter Zhang Shuling, Beijing, July 14) — Boosted by the strong momentum of artificial intelligence (AI) investment, China's June export value hit a new record high, driving the country's first-half import and export volume to achieve a historic breakthrough. In USD terms, June exports surged 27% year-on-year.

According to data released by China's General Administration of Customs on the 14th, China's total import and export value in June rose 30.6% year-on-year in USD terms. Exports reached $412.39 billion, setting a new single-month high, up 27.0% year-on-year — accelerating by 7.6 percentage points from the previous month and marking the highest growth rate since October 2021. Imports totaled $286.76 billion, accelerating by 8.6 percentage points to a 36% year-on-year increase — the highest monthly growth since July 2021.

From January to June 2026, China's exports amounted to $2.12536 trillion, up 17.6% year-on-year, while imports reached $1.54938 trillion, up 26.6% year-on-year.

According to Wang Qing, Chief Macro Analyst at Orient Golden Fortune, cited by Jiemian News, the surge in June exports was driven by the global AI investment boom. Chip exports, the largest single export category accounting for nearly 10% of total export value, continued to grow at a high rate.

However, AI is not the only reason for China's better-than-expected export performance in the first half. As reported by the First Financial Daily, Yang Chang, Chief Expert at the Institute of Public Policy and Governance at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, stated that the strong export performance resulted from multiple factors working in tandem.

On one hand, major global markets are entering restocking cycles, while AI-related demand continues to be released, jointly driving a recovery in external demand. On the other hand, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East have pushed up international oil prices, increasing product prices and transportation costs, thereby boosting the nominal scale of foreign trade.

In USD terms, China's exports to all major countries and regions posted positive growth in the first half of the year. Exports to the U.S. turned positive, rising 0.2% year-on-year, with June's exports to the U.S. surging approximately 13.9% year-on-year. Recent stabilization in China-U.S. trade relations and a reduction in overall U.S. import tariff rates have contributed to the rapid rebound in exports to the U.S. (Editor: Zhu Jianling)