Chinese export growth accelerated 36.3 percent in September as shipments to the U.S. soared nearly 40 percent and apparel and footwear products had a standout month across all markets.
According to China’s General Administration of Customs (GAC), total exports to the U.S. across all categories surged 39.6 percent to $47.9 billion amid a seeming warming of relations between the two countries and easier comparisons to last September.
While the U.S. growth has helped fast-track China’s record export run, segments that haven’t been the sourcing superpower’s strength throughout 2026 have also rebounded.
Apparel shipments for the world’s largest garment exporter jumped 24 percent year on year to $15.4 billion, while footwear exports grew an estimated 20.2 percent to $3.5 billion, both the strongest such performances for the categories in 2026, China’s customs data showed.
Textiles also rose 19 percent to $14.2 billion, the second-highest single month growth rate since the 20.5 percent jump seen across January and February.
All three sectors rode the same tailwind that pushed China’s total September exports to $447.2 billion, sending the country’s trade surplus to $133.5 billion for the month. The month lifted the year-to-date surplus to $938.1 billion and keeps Beijing on pace to surpass last year’s record $1.2 trillion figure.
Apparel and footwear showed a genuine recovery, with the categories respectively experiencing year-over-year declines of nearly 30 percent and 40 percent in March. From January through August, Chinese apparel exports had grown just 2.5 percent, while footwear exports contracted 4.7 percent.
In a Thursday research note, Minsheng Bank chief economist Wen Bin noted that while shoe prices jumped 6.6 percent in September, volumes also increased 12.8 percent, “showing a simultaneous increase in both volume and price, reversing the previous trend of rising prices but falling volume.”
As usual, chips did the heavy lifting in powering the wider global export figures, with semiconductors and computing contributing more than 13 percentage points of growth, according to Nguyen Hoang Nam, a China-focused economist at market research firm Capital Economics.
China-to-US exports increase for sixth-straight month
September’s 39.6 percent jump in Chinese exports to the U.S. marked the sixth-straight month in a row that these shipments have increased, building off 34.4 percent growth seen in August.
The high export number reflects a low base from a year earlier, in which shipments to the U.S. plummeted 27 percent amid the heavy trade tensions that persisted between the countries throughout much of 2026.
Late last month, Washington and Beijing extended their tariff truce first brokered last fall, which now runs through January 2027 alongside $30 billion in tariff cuts on both sides.
“Over 90 percent of these products are exempt from all previously imposed tariffs and enjoying most-favored-nation tariff treatment, reducing rates from over 30 percent to around 2 to 3 percent, a significant decrease,” said Wen. “This primarily benefits labor-intensive products such as home furnishings, appliances, children’s products, entertainment goods and festive supplies.”
Export growth strong across major trade partners
The 11-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) remained China’s largest export market by a wide margin, with September shipments rising 52.3 percent to $81.7 billion.
Malaysia led all major markets with an 81.4 percent jump to $14.6 billion worth of Chinese goods, followed by Thailand at 64.8 percent and Vietnam at 53.3 percent. Vietnam took in $25.6 billion in September shipments, the highest such total for any ASEAN country. Singapore rose 50.3 percent to $9.39 billion, and Indonesia climbed 27.3 percent to $9 billion.
The EU absorbed $60.2 billion in Chinese exports, up 25.3 percent, with Germany at $13.1 billion and the Netherlands at $9.3 billion serving as the top-two individual markets in the bloc.
South Korea grew the fastest of any major economy at 68.2 percent, its quickest pace since 2021, reaching $20.6 billion for the month. India took in $17.4 billion in Chinese goods, up 47.8 percent from last September, and Japan reached $15.6 billion, up 15.8 percent over the year-ago total.
China’s third-quarter GDP jumps 4.5 percent
China’s trade surplus has helped prop up what has been moderate economic growth throughout 2026.
The country’s third-quarter GDP growth of 4.5 percent, reported Monday by the National Bureau of Statistics, beat the 4.4 percent consensus and edged up from 4.3 percent in the second quarter. The second quarter figures marked the slowest pace in three years.
The domestic detail was softer, with retail sales rising just 1.1 percent in September. The country’s manufacturing PMI inched up 0.3 percentage points from a month prior to 50.1, bringing the metric back into slight expansion territory.
“The key macroeconomic message is that China’s economy is still supply- and production-side driven,” Yuhan Zhang, principal economist at The Conference Board’s China Center, told Reuters. “This supports near-term growth and industrial upgrading, while continued efforts to strengthen household consumption, services demand and consumer confidence would make the recovery more balanced and sustainable.”