China's goods trade imports and exports sustained a sound growth momentum in the first seven months, with the total value reaching 30.13 trillion yuan ($4.46 trillion) of 2026, up 17.3 percent year-on-year, extending sound growth trend. The deep integration of tech and industrial innovation is being steadily translated into new competitive strengths and fresh growth drivers for foreign trade, official data showed on Friday.

During this period, the country's exports reached 17.44 trillion yuan, up 14 percent year-on-year, while imports stood at 12.69 trillion yuan, up 22 percent year-on-year, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs (GAC).

Since the start of this year, China's economy has progressed against pressure and moved toward higher-quality, innovation-driven growth, providing strong support for the growth in foreign trade.

In July, the country's foreign trade sustained the solid momentum built in the first half, with its growth rate picking up by 2.3 percentage points compared with the first half, and the monthly import-export volume staying above 4 trillion yuan for the fifth consecutive month.

A major highlight is the shift in export mix toward innovation-driven and green products, according to CCTV news.

In the first seven months, China's exports of electromechanical products reached 11.12 trillion yuan, up 21.2 percent year-on-year, accounting for 63.8 percent of total exports and raising their share by 3.8 percentage points from a year earlier.

Within the category, green and low-carbon products such as electric vehicles (EVs), lithium batteries, and wind turbine generator sets rose by 71.2 percent, 35.8 percent, and 34.8 percent, respectively. Exports of 3D printers, industrial robots, and ships came in at 11.2 billion yuan, 7.34 billion yuan, and 268.14 billion yuan, climbing 1.1 fold, 13.2 percent, and 32.7 percent, respectively, according to the GAC.

China has become one of the countries with the fastest-rising innovation capacity in the world. The deep integration of sci-tech innovation with industrial innovation is steadily translating into new competitive strengths in foreign trade and fresh growth drivers. In July, exports of high-tech products grew by more than 50 percent year-on-year, contributing nearly 60 percent of the month's export increment, while exports of green and low-carbon products such as EVs and lithium batteries posted double-digit growth for the 17th consecutive month,according to CCTV news.

China remains committed to openness, cooperation, and mutual benefit, sharing opportunities and pursuing common development with countries around the world. In the January-July period, the country's imports and exports grew with more than 180 countries and regions.

In the first seven months of 2026, China's total trade with ASEAN reached 5.14 trillion yuan, up 20 percent year-on-year; trade with the EU stood at 3.67 trillion yuan, up 9.5 percent year-on-year; and trade with the US came to 2.38 trillion yuan, down 1.6 percent year-on-year, according to the GAC.

Over the same period, China's combined imports and exports with Belt and Road partner countries totaled 15.36 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.5 percent, official data showed.

Another distinctive feature is that the country's import growth continued to outpace export growth, according to CCTV news.

In the first seven months of 2026, China's imports of bulk commodities rose 3 percent year-on-year in volume, with imports of metal ores up 8.2 percent. Over the same period, imports of electromechanical products reached 5.31 trillion yuan, up 29.7 percent year-on-year, accounting for 41.9 percent of total import value.

China is proactively broadening its autonomous opening-up, voluntarily expanding imports, and promoting balanced development of exports and imports. To date, it has applied zero-tariff policies to 63 countries, and its import scale has ranked steadily second in the world for 17 consecutive years. In the first seven months, China's import growth was 8 percentage points faster than its export growth, allowing more quality products from around the world to enter the Chinese market and share in China's opportunities, according to the report.