BEIJING: China's trade surplus surged past US$1 trillion in the first 10 months as a global race to build AI infrastructure buoyed sales of high-tech products and helped offset weak domestic demand, a dynamic likely to sharpen tensions with major trading partners.
The figures highlight Beijing's growing reliance on overseas demand to support an economy hobbled by subdued consumption and a protracted property slump. But while the global AI investment boom is expected to keep demand for Chinese technology products strong into 2027, it risks deepening domestic imbalances and fuelling trade frictions with partners including the European Union.
Exports rose sharply by 35.2% in October from the same month last year in US dollar terms, customs data showed on Tuesday, only a touch slower than the 36.3% surge in September, but ahead of economists' forecast for an increase of 33.5%.
