China’s monthly car ‌exports top 1m for first time as overall trade soars

Country risks new tariffs from US and EU as it looks likely to match or beat last year’s record surplus of $1tn China’s monthly car ‌exports topped 1m for the first time in June as overall overseas shipments from the world’s second biggest economy rose 27%. Official Chinese customs data showed that a stronger-than-expected trade performance kept China on track to match or beat last year’s record trade surplus of $1tn (£748bn), achieved despite Donald Trump’s curtailed tariff war. Sales of Chinese brands ranging from BYD to Jaecoo are booming, eating into the market shares of long-established brands, particularly in Europe. Analysis by the Mercator Institute for China Studies (Merics) in Berlin showed that China ran a €900m-a-day (£767m) goods surplus with the EU in the first half of 2026, risking heightened tensions with the US and the EU, which has previously accused China of “weaponising” trade as foreign policy. Exports to the EU increased 12.7% year on year, pushing the surplus to 1.225tn yuan (£135bn). Exports of electric vehicles and hybrid cars, which escaped the EU’s 2024 tariffs on Chinese EVs, have put the European industry under huge pressure, with