In the first quarter, national foreign trade import and export increased by 15%, and mechanical and electrical product exports accounted for 63.4%. Among them, the export growth rate of the “three new items” (new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaics) generally exceeded 50%.
Behind this set of eye-catching data, a core question is: How can the A-share market, especially the new economic sector that represents the direction of industrial upgrading, benefit from it?
The answer is not simply “good exports, stock prices will rise”, but deep empowerment through three clear and intertwined paths.
From the perspective of export companies, orders are directly converted into performance.
For listed companies in AI, new energy and other fields, the most direct manifestation of the high growth of foreign trade is the explosion of overseas orders, which is quickly reflected in financial statements.
The AI electronics sector is a typical representative.
Global AI computing power investment has entered a new expansion cycle, directly driving demand for servers, optical modules, memory chips, etc.
In 2025, the overseas revenue of the electronics industry will reach 1.222162 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 24.29%, temporarily surpassing petroleum and petrochemicals to become the largest industry in A-share overseas revenue.
Specific to the company, Baiwei Storage’s overseas revenue will grow by 73.87% in 2025; Dongshan Precision’s net profit in the first quarter of 2026 is expected to increase by 119%-152%, and AI optical modules have become a new core profit growth point.
The sector’s pre-joy rate is as high as 82.35%, far exceeding the market average.
The same is true for the new energy vehicle industry chain.
In the first quarter, the country exported 954,000 new energy vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 120%.
Leading company BYD’s overseas revenue will reach 310.741 billion yuan in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 40.05%, and the proportion of overseas revenue continues to increase.
This explosion of terminal demand not only benefits vehicle companies, but also drives upstream global battery leaders such as CATL, whose overseas revenue in 2025 will reach 129.641 billion yuan.
From this perspective, the rapid growth of foreign trade first brings certain revenue and profit increases to these globally competitive new economy enterprises.
From the perspective of the industrial chain, downstream expansion drives upstream equipment and materials.
The surge in foreign trade orders has prompted downstream manufacturing companies to expand production capacity, thus generating strong demand for upstream high-end equipment and core materials.
This transmission chain allows a group of “hidden champions” to surface.
Take the semiconductor storage industry as an example.
The production expansion plans of leading domestic manufacturers such as Yangtze Memory have directly boosted the demand for etching equipment.
As the leader in domestic etching equipment, China Microwave Company’s etching equipment sales revenue in 2025 will reach 9.832 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 35.12%, and its share in newly built production lines continues to increase.
The surge in demand for memory chips has caused related companies to lock in the supply chain in advance.
Baiwei Storage announced in March 2026 that it had signed a long-term procurement contract of up to US$1.5 billion with an original storage manufacturer to ensure supply for the next 24 months.
Its inventory size at the end of the first quarter of 2026 increased by 53.39% year-on-year to cope with downstream expansion needs.
Even high-barrier semiconductor consumables such as 12-inch wafer carriers are facing opportunities due to the import substitution demand brought about by the expansion of domestic production lines, and orders from related companies have begun to increase rapidly.
Therefore, the second benefit logic is: the prosperity of terminal exports is transmitted upstream along the industrial chain, activating the growth of equipment and materials companies, forming a “one-point breakthrough, chain reaction” effect.
From the perspective of new business formats and institutional dividends, cost reduction and efficiency increase create new growth poles.
In addition to traditional goods trade, new business formats represented by cross-border e-commerce and institutional innovation in special customs supervision areas have opened up a new track for “efficiency dividends” for enterprises.
Cross-border e-commerce has become an important engine for foreign trade growth.
In the first quarter of 2026, my country’s cross-border e-commerce exports reached 473.55 billion yuan.
A-share related companies are transforming from an extensive “distribution model” to “branding + technology empowerment”.
For example, through active destocking and technological empowerment, Huakai Yibai’s operating cash flow increased by 394.88% year-on-year in 2025, its inventory scale dropped significantly, and it achieved quality growth.
Innovation in customs supervision has significantly reduced enterprises’ cross-border logistics and operating costs.
Take the Qianhai Comprehensive Bonded Zone as an example. The “Direct Line, Intelligent Supervision” model it has launched allows goods to be picked up directly after arriving at the port, reducing the overall logistics time by more than 30%; the “TIR+bonded” cross-border highway channel reduces transportation costs by about 15%.
These policies directly benefit enterprises in the region. For example, Siemens Shenzhen Maintenance Center has compressed the global maintenance cycle of magnetic resonance coils from 4-6 weeks to 5-7 days, greatly improving service competitiveness.
Observed from this perspective, policy and model innovation provide an “accelerator” for new economy companies to expand overseas markets by reducing institutional transaction costs and improving operational efficiency.
Based on the above three perspectives, the impact of high foreign trade growth on the A-share new economic sector is structural, not inclusive.
The core beneficiaries are leading companies and their supply chain partners that have established global competitive advantages and are in high-prosperity tracks such as AI and new energy.
The factors supporting sustainability are clear: global AI infrastructure and energy transformation are long-term trends; China has formed full industry chain cluster advantages in related fields; the policy level continues to optimize the business environment (such as export credit insurance, customs facilitation).
Institutions are also generally optimistic. For example, Invesco Great Wall recommends overseas manufacturing, AI infrastructure and other main lines.
However, risks and challenges also exist: the high growth of some companies relies on product price increases or low base effects; geopolitics and other factors may bring uncertainty to external demand; and pressure for the transformation of traditional industries still exists.
Ultimately, the core of this new A-share economic sector market driven by foreign trade is the revaluation of “China’s hard technology manufacturing capabilities” to meet “global industrial upgrading needs.”
Whether it can move from a periodic performance explosion to long-term valuation reshaping depends on whether the company can convert short-term orders into continuous technology iteration, brand improvement and global market share.
At present, the signal is positive, but the road needs to be walked steadily step by step.
