Share of main export partners of China 2020
In 2020, the European Union countries imported approximately 15.1 percent of the Chinese export volume. In that year, United States was the largest Chinese merchandise importer.
Distribution of Chinese exports
In 2020, China exported goods with a total value of more than 17.9 trillion yuan and imported goods with a value of 14.2 trillion yuan. That year, China ranked second among the countries with the largest gross domestic product, following the United States.
China’s economic prosperity has been closely related to its status as the world’s factory. For about a decade between 2005 and 2015, exports contributed more than 20 percent to China’s gross domestic product. However, the share of exports to GDP contribution is currently on the decline. Nonetheless, China maintains a trade surplus of about 351 billion U.S. dollars and remains first among countries with the highest trade surplus worldwide as of 2017. While China displays high growth potential for service exports such as tourism, transportation, banking and financial services, as well as insurance and education services, the main focus of China’s export industry remains merchandise. In 2019, Chinese merchandise exports made up 13.2 percent of all global exports, whereas service based exports contributed only 4.6 percent.
In terms of most exported merchandise categories, food and live animals used for food were the main primary goods. Among the manufactured goods, automatic data processing machines, textile, and apparel were the categories with the highest export value in China in 2020.
Distribution of Chinese exports
In 2020, China exported goods with a total value of more than 17.9 trillion yuan and imported goods with a value of 14.2 trillion yuan. That year, China ranked second among the countries with the largest gross domestic product, following the United States.
China’s economic prosperity has been closely related to its status as the world’s factory. For about a decade between 2005 and 2015, exports contributed more than 20 percent to China’s gross domestic product. However, the share of exports to GDP contribution is currently on the decline. Nonetheless, China maintains a trade surplus of about 351 billion U.S. dollars and remains first among countries with the highest trade surplus worldwide as of 2017. While China displays high growth potential for service exports such as tourism, transportation, banking and financial services, as well as insurance and education services, the main focus of China’s export industry remains merchandise. In 2019, Chinese merchandise exports made up 13.2 percent of all global exports, whereas service based exports contributed only 4.6 percent.
In terms of most exported merchandise categories, food and live animals used for food were the main primary goods. Among the manufactured goods, automatic data processing machines, textile, and apparel were the categories with the highest export value in China in 2020.
