In my country’s economic growth engine, exports have always been an important force that has attracted much attention.
In the first quarter of 2026, the momentum of investment growth has weakened and consumption has not improved, but exports have delivered satisfactory results.
Data released at a relevant press conference on April 14 showed that my country’s import and export of goods trade in the first quarter was 11.84 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15%.
Among them, exports were 6.85 trillion yuan, an increase of 11.9%, and imports were 4.99 trillion yuan, an increase of 19.6%.
The total value of imports and exports has remained above 10 trillion yuan for 12 consecutive quarters, and this quarter’s growth rate is the highest in the past five years. It is the first time in history that imports and exports have exceeded 11 trillion yuan in the same period.
It is not easy for foreign trade to achieve such results in the first quarter.
The world situation in 2026 is complex, with wars, conflicts, trade disputes continuing, globalization receding, and economic nationalism rising. As the world’s largest industrial power, China faces many external challenges.
However, my country’s foreign trade is still gaining momentum and getting off to a good start, showing many new characteristics.
First, all types of business entities have grown across the board.
The import and export of private enterprises was 6.78 trillion yuan, an increase of 16.2%, and the proportion further increased to 57.3%; the import and export of foreign-invested enterprises was 3.47 trillion yuan, and the import and export of state-owned enterprises was 1.56 trillion yuan, an increase of 16.1% and 8% respectively.
Second, market diversification will be further consolidated and expanded.
Imports and exports to countries jointly building the “Belt and Road” reached 6.06 trillion yuan, an increase of 14.2%, accounting for 51.2%; imports and exports to ASEAN and Latin America both increased by 15.4%, imports and exports to Africa increased 23.7%, imports and exports to the EU and the United Kingdom increased 14.6% and 13.1% respectively, and imports and exports to other APEC economies increased 13.4%.
Third, new momentum for exports continues to develop.
Exports of mechanical and electrical products were 4.34 trillion yuan, an increase of 18.3%, accounting for 63.4% of the total export value, an increase of 3.5 percentage points over the same period last year.
Among them, the export of green products such as electric vehicles, lithium batteries, wind turbines and their parts increased by 77.5%, 50.4% and 45.2% respectively.
Despite the excellent foreign trade results in the first quarter, the export pattern is about to undergo changes.
For a long time, my country’s export-oriented model has faced many problems.
With competition between major powers, decoupling of industrial chains and the ebb of globalization, trade protectionism has risen, and my country’s exports have become the target of criticism from other countries.
At the same time, excessive exports also have internal hidden dangers. Resource factors are excessively tilted towards the export sector, squeezing the development space of domestic demand industries, and the economy is vulnerable to fluctuations in the international market.
Recently, “Qiushi” magazine published an article pointing out that the bigger the export scale, the better. It is imperative to promote balanced development of trade.
The article proposes ways to solve the imbalance problem in the current foreign trade pattern: first, reduce the price-cutting involution of foreign trade exports and improve the structural upgrade of goods exports; second, vigorously expand imports.
In order to regulate the export structure of domestic enterprises, the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation issued an announcement to cancel the export VAT rebate for 249 products such as photovoltaics from April 1, 2026, and adjust the rebate rate for battery products in stages.
This is the largest export tax rebate policy adjustment in recent years, which will have a greater impact on companies that rely on export tax rebates.
Taking the photovoltaic industry as an example, after the tax rebate was cancelled, companies faced the dilemma of increased costs or losing customers; the tax rebate rate for some products in the ceramic industry was directly reduced to 0%, and many companies may face “losses when exporting”.
But in the long run, canceling export tax rebates can force photovoltaic, battery and other industries to upgrade, increase industry-wide profit levels, and safeguard national interests.
In short, although the export situation in the first quarter is good, the import and export pattern is bound to undergo major changes. The foreign trade pattern of low-price exports and sacrificing the welfare of domestic residents to subsidize foreign countries will soon become a thing of the past.
