The extraordinary figure, which records the economic excess of exports to imports, has never been achieved before in history.<\/p>\n
And it immediately sent economic analysts and sino-watchers around the world into a frenzy about China’s ever-expanding global economic clout.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Since Donald Trump hiked tariffs earlier this year, Chinese exports to the US have dropped by about a fifth. (Reuters: Evelyn Hockstein)<\/p>\n
China exports elsewhere<\/p>\n
Since Trump hiked tariffs earlier this year, Chinese exports to the US have dropped by about a fifth.<\/p>\n
The two leaders’ meeting in South Korea in October, after which the US agreed to cut tariffs on Chinese imports by 10 per cent, has warmed geopolitical relations but hasn’t made a substantial trade difference<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Instead of being stymied by the US, China has offset the decline in breathtaking speed by replacing the demand with burgeoning markets elsewhere.<\/p>\n The last year has seen a tsunami of Chinese exports into markets in Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia and even Australia.<\/p>\n Cars, machinery, solar panels, consumer electronics and other manufactured goods are being shipped off to the world, at a breakneck pace.<\/p>\n In Australia, Chinese imports have jumped 18 per cent in the three months to October, compared to the same time last year.<\/p>\n And in the European Union, China now sells double the amount of goods it buys, drastically expanding its trade surplus with the region over the last year.<\/p>\n Backlash is now brewing in Europe<\/a>, where it’s feared local manufacturing factories will be forced to scale back production, or close for good, after struggling to match what China can offer far cheaper.<\/p>\n Loading\u00a0European leaders visit China<\/p>\n It’s unsurprising then, that a string of European dignitaries and leaders \u2014 including French President Emmanuel Macron, Spain’s King Felipe and Germany’s finance and foreign ministers \u2014 have made recent visits to China.<\/p>\n Britain’s Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is expected to visit early next year<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n During a three-day stay in China earlier this month, Macron revealed he had warned China’s leader Xi Jinping to curb Beijing’s large trade surplus with the European Union.<\/p>\n