Chinese exports are increasingly powered by artificial intelligence-related electronics and high-end manufacturing, now nearly 85% of shipments, a new report shows. According to ICICI Securities, this shift has strengthened resilience and kept exports firm in 2025 despite weaker US demand.
China's exports rose 6.6% year-on-year in December 2025, beating expectations, and capped annual growth of 5.5%. This strategy has also reduced the impact of US tariffs as higher-value goods drove volumes and supported a record trade surplus.
How The AI Hardware Boom Is Helping China
The report stated that China's export resilience is increasingly being driven by the AI hardware boom and high-end manufacturing. “With exports remaining strong and imports relatively weaker, China witnessed a record trade surplus of USD 1.18 trillion in 2025,” according to the report.
While Chinese exports into the US fell sharply amid trade tensions, Beijing focused on markets such as ASEAN, the EU, Latin America and India.
“Overall, China continues to move towards decoupling from the US markets by diversifying its exports to the rest of the world. An undervalued exchange rate, as well as robust demand for the high-end manufacturing and electronics sector that is feeding into the AI boo,m are working to ensure that Chinese export momentum remains solid to the non-US world,” it noted.
According to ICICI Securities, mechanical, electrical and hi-tech products now make up about 85% of Chinese exports and are seeing double-digit growth. These goods support global demand linked to artificial intelligence and are less sensitive to tariffs due to China's dominance.
“Other categories like garments, textiles and toys (together occupying 8% of total exports) remain weak, responding to higher US tariffs and the fact of the substitution to Thailand and Vietnam that is taking place for this subset of goods,” it added.
China's Import Trends
China's imports also picked up pace in December 2025, led by higher purchases of mechanical, electrical and hi-tech goods, partly linked to re-exports. The report added that its energy imports also rose, suggesting restocking as authorities took advantage of softer global prices.
“Some degree of re-stocking also appears to be taking place in the base-metal categories, particularly in iron ore and copper ore respectively, perhaps in a run-up to the increase in public infrastructure that is expected in H12026,” it noted.
Despite the December rebound, imports were flat in 2025, reflecting an overall weak domestic demand.
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