China’s tech export boom is hiding a weakening economy

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NEW YORK — A week after US voters rebuked Donald Trump’s Republican Party, China delivered a stinging reminder that his presidency is going awry from all directions. China’s trade…

NEW YORK — A week after US voters rebuked Donald Trump’s Republican Party, China delivered a stinging reminder that his presidency is going awry from all directions.

China’s trade surplus swelled to just over US$1 trillion for the year despite Trump World’s best efforts to hobble President Xi Jinping’s economy. This was even as imports jumped to their largest level since 2021.

Imports rose roughly 42% year on year in October. Exports jumped 35% from a year ago, as Beijing continues to navigate around Trump’s tariffs on Asia’s biggest economy.

In the first 10 months of 2026, a trade surplus that Trump was reelected to reverse is rightly 9% bigger than a year ago. And that $1.2 trillion surplus was already a record high. For Trump’s Republican supporters, this week’s data out of Beijing is as demoralizing as it comes.

“We expect Chinese exports to stay strong for the rest of this year, led by electronics and autos,” said Dave Chia, an economist at Moody’s Analytics.

Economist Hao Zhou at Guotai Junan International told Bloomberg that the trade surplus “underscores the resilience and competitiveness of its export sector despite a more challenging global trade environment.”

Add in China’s growing share of the artificial intelligence boom. Tianchen Xu, senior economist at Economist Intelligence Unit, said China’s export surge is related to demand for tech-related products.

To be sure, critical minerals copper and energy supplies like liquefied natural gas, oil, and coal are part of China’s 2026 growth story. But AI is the real driver.

“High-tech demand, supported by the global and domestic AI upcycle, remained the key driver, while China’s pricing and supply-chain competitiveness in other major export categories also helped sustain the momentum,” said HSBC economist Taylor Wang.

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