China sold goods worth about $148bn to EU in first quarter of year, but imported just $65bn
The EU is experiencing a prolonged “China shock” as a flood of Chinese EVs into Europe helped push Beijing to a record surplus with the bloc.
New data showed China’s trade surplus – where its exports to the EU exceeded imports from the bloc – was $83bn (£61bn) in the first three months of 2026.
China sold goods worth about $148bn to the EU in the first quarter, but imported just $65bn from the bloc, according to analysis of 2026 customs data by Mercator Institute for China Studies (Merics). The surplus for the whole of 2025 stood at €360bn.
The record was driven in part by Europeans’ apparent unstoppable appetite for Chinese cars, including BYD which has declared it wants to become the world’s biggest automaker.
