China's import growth outpaces export growth; both post a fourth month of double-digit gains
China's merchandise import value rose 21.7% year on year in August and export value 18.6%, marking the fourth consecutive month of double-digit growth in both. These are changes in RMB-denominated trade values, not direct measures of raw material import volumes or prices.
SHANGHAI BULK CHEMICAL Editorial Team 6 min read
Archive photograph: containers at the Port of Barcelona, Spain, 2016.Photo: Igor Ovsyannykov. Source: Wikimedia Commons; license: CC0 1.0. The image does not depict the customs release's reporting locations or Shanghai Bulk Chemical cargo.
According to Xinhua's September 8 report, data released that day by the General Administration of Customs put China's August merchandise trade at RMB 4.65 trillion, up 19.8% year on year. Both imports and exports grew, with monthly import growth exceeding export growth for a sixth consecutive month.
Data period: August and January–August 2026
Imports grew faster; exports remained larger
August imports totaled RMB 1.92 trillion and exports RMB 2.73 trillion. Customs figures reported by Xinhua Finance show year-on-year growth of 21.7% and 18.6%, respectively: a difference of 3.1 percentage points.
“Year on year” compares August with the same month a year earlier. Faster import growth describes the rate of change; larger exports describe the value traded. Both can be true at once: a higher growth rate does not mean a larger trade value.
Period and indicator
Value (RMB trillion)
Year-on-year growth
August · Imports
1.92
21.7%
August · Exports
2.73
18.6%
August · Total trade
4.65
19.8%
January–August · Imports
14.61
22.0%
January–August · Exports
20.17
14.6%
January–August · Total trade
34.78
17.6%
Figures cover 2026; each row compares with the corresponding period a year earlier. August and January–August are separate monthly and cumulative measures.Source: customs data reported by Xinhua and Xinhua Finance; compiled by SHANGHAI BULK CHEMICAL Editorial Team.
Over January–August, cumulative import growth exceeded export growth by 7.4 percentage points. That gap and August's 3.1-point gap cover different periods; subtracting one from the other would not measure a slowdown in imports. One describes eight months combined, the other August against the same month a year earlier.
Using the published values, August exports exceeded imports by RMB 0.81 trillion, giving an approximate merchandise trade surplus of RMB 810 billion. A surplus is the difference between export and import values, not exporters' profits. The national aggregate combines different goods, trade arrangements and businesses. This calculation uses the published, rounded trillion-renminbi figures and is therefore approximate.
Rising total imports did not mean all raw materials moved together
Breaking imports down reveals different patterns. Xinhua Finance's major-commodity figures put January–August crude oil imports at 321 million tonnes, down 14.6%, and agricultural imports at RMB 1.04 trillion, up 6.6%. Imports of mechanical and electrical products reached RMB 6.21 trillion, up 31.6%.
Growth in mechanical and electrical imports illustrates that national import statistics include goods other than raw materials. A decline in crude oil tonnage can coexist with growth in total import value. Rising agricultural import value records a change in that broad category; it does not establish how much of each oil, sugar or other food ingredient was imported.
Value and volume answer different questions. Volume describes the quantity of goods; value also relates to unit values and the product mix. Even when import value and volume are available for the same commodity, dividing one by the other gives an average unit value for that statistical category, not a spot quotation for a particular brand, grade or supplier. Crude oil volume and agricultural import value use different statistical indicators and cannot be ranked as measures of demand strength.
ASEAN trade grew faster than the national total
Geography adds another layer to the aggregate picture. The customs data reported by Xinhua Finance show January–August trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at RMB 5.95 trillion, up 20.6%, and trade with the European Union at RMB 4.2 trillion, up 8.1%. Both figures combine imports and exports.
Growth in trade with ASEAN was 3.0 percentage points above growth in China's total merchandise trade. The regional figure is not broken down here by country and commodity, so it cannot be read as the increase in palm oil or oleochemical imports from a particular Southeast Asian origin. The trading region and the material traded are two separate levels of information.
Trade arrangements also differed: January–August general trade totaled RMB 20.89 trillion, up 10.5%; processing trade reached RMB 6.75 trillion, up 26.4%; and bonded logistics trade reached RMB 6 trillion, up 42.3%. These are customs trade-value categories, not cargo volumes on individual shipping routes. Faster growth in bonded logistics value does not establish an equivalent increase in port throughput or ocean freight rates.
Statistical levels from national totals to individual raw materials
The release contains three statistical levels: aggregate values describe overall merchandise trade, regions and trade arrangements describe its structure, and commodity details cover individual materials. Current figures are available for the first two levels. Fatty acids and glycerine are not separately listed, so national or regional growth cannot stand in for their results.
Connecting the figures to a particular material requires quantities, values, origins and consecutive reporting periods under the same commodity code. Customs uses these codes to classify goods; similar product names do not automatically indicate identical statistical coverage. Matching those fields is necessary to distinguish changes in volume, average unit value and sourcing structure.