China's foreign trade maintains steady growth as business ties with the United States show positive momentum
Amid a complex and changing external environment, the resilience of trade ties has become an important indicator of an economy's vitality. Continued contact between businesses and commercial communities in different countries helps sustain practical cooperation even amid uncertainty.
According to data released Friday by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), China's foreign trade maintained steady growth in the first half of 2026, demonstrating strong resilience and vitality amid a complex and volatile external environment.
From January to June, China's national trade promotion system issued more than 4.26 million certificates, including certificates of origin, ATA carnets — international customs documents widely known as "passports for goods" — and commercial certificates. The figure represented a year-on-year increase of 9.64 percent.
CCPIT data also highlighted active bilateral exchanges between China and the United States. During the six-month period, CCPIT-affiliated offices issued 44,600 certificates of origin for exports to the United States worth 2.95 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 13.38 percent from a year earlier.
The number of ATA carnets issued for goods traveling from China to the United States reached 735, up 15.93 percent year on year. Meanwhile, 381 ATA carnets were issued for goods traveling from the United States to China, an increase of 17.96 percent from the same period last year.
"These figures show that China's foreign trade continues to develop and maintain steady growth amid a complex and changing external environment, demonstrating strong resilience and vitality. Bilateral exchanges of people and goods between China and the United States have shown positive momentum in both quantity and quality," said Yang Fan, a CCPIT spokesperson, at a press conference in Beijing on Friday.
Trade fairs remain an important channel for developing business ties. As of the end of June, CCPIT had approved 150 projects for Chinese companies to participate in trade fairs and exhibitions in the United States in 2026. Of these, 87 had already been carried out in the first half of the year, with nearly 2,000 Chinese companies participating in exhibitions in the United States.
CCPIT said it would continue promoting exchanges and cooperation between Chinese and U.S. business communities to support the stable, healthy and sustainable development of bilateral relations.
As reported by CCTV+, the first-half figures point to continued activity in China's foreign trade and ongoing development of practical business ties between China and the United States.
