China's total foreign trade in first four months of 2026 logged 16.23 trillion yuan ($2.39 trillion), up 14.9 percent year-on-year, with exports rising by 11.3 percent year-on-year to 9.33 trillion yuan and imports rising 20 percent year-on-year to 6.9 trillion yuan, China's General Administration of Customs released on Saturday.

Amid global turbulence, China remains a key priority destination for global procurement given its advantages in cost control, infrastructure, logistics efficiency, timely delivery and product quality, which has continued to channel more international orders toward the country, Hu Qimu, a professor at the Maritime Silk Road Institute of Huaqiao University, told the Global Times on Saturday.

In the first four months, China's total trade with the ASEAN reached 2.75 trillion yuan, up 15.7 percent year-on-year. During the same period, the total trade with Belt and Road partner countries stood at 8.28 trillion yuan, increasing 13.5 percent year-on-year, according to the data.

Hu said that China's continued efforts to optimize its foreign trade structure are yielding results, with emerging markets and diversified trade networks playing an increasingly important role. Rapidly expanding trade with Belt and Road partner countries has become a key pillar supporting China's overall foreign trade growth, Hu added.

Meanwhile, China's total trade with the EU reached 2.01 trillion yuan, up 13.2 percent year-on-year, while trade with the US totaled 1.25 trillion yuan, down 12.9 percent year-on-year, during the same period.

In April alone, China's total goods trade reached 4.38 trillion yuan, up 14.2 percent year-on-year. Exports rose 9.8 percent to 2.48 trillion yuan, while imports climbed 20.6 percent to 1.9 trillion yuan, according to the GAC.

In terms of major commodities, China's imports of mechanical and electrical products reached 2.76 trillion yuan in the first four months, up 23.6 percent year-on-year. Crude oil imports totaled 185 million tons, up 1.3 percent, while agricultural product imports reached 475.73 billion yuan, increasing 10.3 percent.

Notably, growth in imports has accelerated in both cumulative and monthly terms, Hu pointed out, noting that this indicates a recovery in China's domestic demand and signals improving momentum in the broader economy overall, which could further stabilize and improve the country's foreign trade performance in the first half of the year.