My Take | China’s tech upgrade keeps export machine roaring even as Trump threatens tariffs

China’s export machine remained formidable last year. Latest data from the customs office valued the country’s exports at US$3.58 trillion, rendering it the world’s top exporter. Its role as a key global supplier of finished products continued to be solid. China’s trade surplus hit an all-time high of US$992 billion.

One obvious reason for China’s export resilience is that it has been climbing the value chain. China is no longer the factory of cheap labour-intensive goods, and the decline in low-value-added manufacturing is being fully compensated by the growth of more-value-added products.

China, the world’s largest car exporter, shipped 6.4 million vehicles overseas in 2024, an increase of 22.8 per cent from a year ago. Its export value of integrated circuits, or semiconductors, exceeded that of clothing last year, while its export value of ships skyrocketed 57.3 per cent, customs data showed.

All those numbers illustrate a colossal export sector in the process of steady upgrading.