Multiple positive factors are injecting certainty into China's electromechanical product exports in 2026. According to the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Mechanical and Electrical Products, it is expected that China's mechanical and electrical product exports will continue to grow in 2026, benefiting from the stabilization of export expectations to the United States, the continued release of demand from emerging markets, and the continuous consolidation of industrial supply resilience.

Data shows that by 2025, the total import and export value of China's mechanical and electrical products will reach 3337.15 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 7.3%. Among them, exports will reach 2301.84 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 8.4%, driving a 5 percentage point growth in total commodity exports.

Market diversification and expansion

Scale growth demonstrates resilience

Recently, there have been signs of easing in the economic and trade relations between China and the United States, and the industry generally believes that the most difficult period may have passed. The relevant person in charge of the China Chamber of Commerce for Machinery and Electronics believes that "although major products such as computers and mobile phones still face multiple barriers such as 301 tariffs and equivalent tariffs, enterprises are gradually adapting to the market environment and seeking long-term development through adjusting supply chains, cost sharing, and other means."

The diversification of the market has achieved significant results, and the strong performance of emerging markets has become an important source of incremental growth. In 2025, China's exports of mechanical and electrical products to non-US markets reached $2064.69 billion, a year-on-year increase of 13.5%. Among them, exports to the European Union and Latin America remained relatively stable, with growth rates comparable to the overall level and a proportion basically the same as the whole year of 2024. The ASEAN region has performed outstandingly, with China's exports of mechanical and electrical products to the ASEAN region increasing by 24.7% year-on-year, accounting for 16.8% of China's total mechanical and electrical product exports. Countries such as Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia have all shown double-digit growth. The African market is growing rapidly, with China's exports of mechanical and electrical products to Africa increasing by 35.8% year-on-year to 130.88 billion US dollars in 2025, accounting for 5.7% of the total from 4.5% in 2024. Among them, exports to Liberia, Nigeria, Guinea, the Republic of Congo, Angola and other countries have shown significant growth. The export growth of categories such as containers, drilling production platforms, excavators, lithium batteries, and automobiles to the African market is significant. In addition, potential markets such as the Middle East and Central Asia continue to contribute incremental growth. In 2025, the export value of Chinese electromechanical products to the Middle East increased by 16.1% year-on-year, and the export value to the five Central Asian countries increased by 24.8% year-on-year.

Continuous optimization of structure

Strong momentum for high-quality development

Since the 14th Five Year Plan, the export structure of China's electromechanical products has continued to optimize, with representative products of green and low-carbon transformation and new quality productivity becoming the main drivers of growth. In 2025, among the 12 major categories of mechanical and electrical products announced by the General Administration of Customs, 8 categories achieved export growth, with emerging industries such as integrated circuits, automobiles, and ships and high value-added industries showing particularly outstanding performance, collectively driving the overall export growth of mechanical and electrical products by 3.7 percentage points.

Driven by the global surge in demand for artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure, as well as rising prices of storage chips, and the uncertainty of US tariffs prompting manufacturers to intensify stocking, China's integrated circuit exports will increase by 26.8% year-on-year to $201.9 billion in 2025, reaching a historic high. It is worth noting that the export growth of Chinese integrated circuit products to Southeast Asian markets such as Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines has been significant, demonstrating a trend of deep integration of regional industrial chains.

Automobile exports continue to soar, becoming another powerful engine driving foreign trade growth. In 2025, China's automobile exports will increase by 30% year-on-year to 8.324 million vehicles, including 3.934 million electric vehicles, a year-on-year surge of 73.1%. China's automobile exports to markets such as the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Australia, Kazakhstan, and Indonesia have seen significant growth.

In addition, benefiting from the large-scale replacement cycle of the global shipping market, China's ship exports will reach 55.08 billion US dollars in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 26.7%, with significant growth in exports to traditional markets such as Liberia, Singapore, South Korea, and Norway.

During the 14th Five Year Plan period, the compound annual growth rate of exports of mechanical and electrical products reached 8.36%, laying a good foundation for connecting the development goals of the 15th Five Year Plan and promoting the upgrading of the industrial chain. The above-mentioned person in charge predicted: "In 2026, China's electromechanical foreign trade is expected to maintain steady growth under the triple drive of favorable policies, diversified markets, and industrial upgrading."