In the first three quarters of 2025, the total trade volume of cultural products in China reached 109.19 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 1.4%. Among them, exports amounted to 99.21 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 1.6%; Imports amounted to 9.98 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 0.8%. The trade surplus was 89.22 billion US dollars, a decrease of 1.73 billion US dollars compared to the same period last year.

1、 In the first three quarters, the overall trend of cultural product exports was "initially low, then rising, and then falling back", while imports showed a rebound in growth amidst fluctuations

In terms of exports, in the first quarter, due to factors such as the Spring Festival, the export value of cultural products in February was 5.83 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 15.4%. The export of cultural products rebounded rapidly in March, with a year-on-year growth of 14.3%; In the second quarter, the export of cultural products continued to grow, with the export value of cultural products reaching 13.62 billion US dollars in June, a year-on-year increase of 10.9%, becoming the highest point in the first three quarters; In the third quarter, the export of cultural products decreased year-on-year for three consecutive months, especially in August and September, where the decline exceeded 12%.

Figure: Monthly export value and year-on-year growth rate of Chinese cultural products from January 2024 to September 2025

In terms of imports, the overall trend of cultural product imports is fluctuating. Among them, the import of cultural products increased rapidly in February, June, and September, with year-on-year growth of 9.3%, 27.6%, and 20.6%, respectively; In addition, the import of cultural products decreased significantly in January and August, with year-on-year declines of 27.8% and 16.5%, respectively.

2、 The counter trend growth of cultural equipment exports has become an important driving force, while the export of traditional advantageous categories has declined due to external demand

From the perspective of segmented categories, in the first three quarters of 2025, the export value of cultural goods in China reached 50.54 billion US dollars, accounting for 50.9% of the total export value, a year-on-year decrease of 2.4%, which has a significant impact on the overall export trend. The export value of arts and crafts and collectibles was 21.92 billion US dollars, accounting for 22.1% of the total export value, a year-on-year decrease of 7.4%, with the largest decline among the main export categories, reflecting the current decline in demand for high-end cultural consumer goods in international trade.

The export of cultural equipment has become the biggest highlight, with an export value of 23.95 billion US dollars, accounting for 24.1% of the total export value, a year-on-year increase of 6.7%, indicating that China's international competitiveness in high-end cultural equipment such as broadcasting and television equipment and audio-visual production equipment continues to strengthen.

3、 The import of cultural equipment for upgrading the service industry is steadily increasing, but the demand for high-end collectibles is gradually cooling down

In the first three quarters of 2025, cultural equipment, as the largest category of cultural product imports in China, had an import value of 3.82 billion US dollars, accounting for 38.3% of the total import value and a year-on-year increase of 3.5%. This indicates that there is still a significant demand for high-performance and high-tech professional equipment in the fields of cultural content production and cultural tourism experience upgrading in China. Meanwhile, the import of cultural goods has grown rapidly, with a year-on-year increase of 19.7%. The import value of arts and crafts and collectibles was 3.35 billion US dollars, accounting for 33.5% of the total import value, a year-on-year decrease of 10.9%, indicating a continuous decline in domestic demand for high-end art imports.

4、 The export of traditional cultural products has grown and differentiated in major provinces, while some central provinces have active imports of cultural products

By province, in the first three quarters of 2025, Guangdong Province, Zhejiang Province, and Shandong Province will rank among the top three provinces in terms of cultural product exports. Among them, the export of cultural products in Zhejiang Province increased by 6.3%, maintaining steady growth; The export of cultural products from Guangdong Province and Shandong Province decreased by 6.8% and 2.3% respectively year-on-year, with a slight decline in growth rate. The export value of cultural products from Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, located in the west, reached 440 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 1836.7%, making it the province with the highest export growth rate in China. From an analysis, it can be seen that the strong growth in exports of arts and crafts as well as collectibles from Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (accounting for 86% of the region's cultural product exports) and their national share have increased from 0.03% in 2024 to 1.7% in 2025, reflecting the continuous improvement of Inner Mongolia's ability to export arts and crafts to the international market.

From the perspective of imports, Shanghai, Guangdong, and Beijing are the main regions for cultural product imports, accounting for over 70% of the total national cultural product imports. In recent years, provinces such as Hebei, Fujian, and Hunan located in the eastern and central regions have experienced rapid growth in the import of cultural products. By the first three quarters of 2025, the import growth rate of cultural products will exceed 45%, indicating a further increase in the activity of the local cultural consumption market.

5、 The eastern region steadily expands the mainstream markets in Europe and the United States, while the western region seizes the development opportunity of the "the Belt and Road"

From the perspective of cultural product export markets. The United States is the top destination for the export of publications, cultural goods, and cultural equipment from the eastern region of China; Hong Kong is the top destination for the export of arts and crafts products and collectibles. The export value of arts and crafts and collectibles from the central region of China to Hong Kong reached 2.2 billion US dollars, far exceeding other categories. The export scale of cultural products such as publications and cultural equipment is relatively small, with export values not exceeding 200 million US dollars. The total export value of cultural products in Northeast China is relatively low, and Russia is the main export destination for cultural products in the region, which has a significant impact on local cultural product exports. In addition, publications from the Northeast region are mainly exported to Japan, while cultural goods and arts and crafts are mainly sold in the United States, but the export value has not exceeded 100 million US dollars.

The western region of China is more active in exporting cultural goods and cultural equipment to Vietnam, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and other surrounding countries. Although the overall export scale is not as large as that of the eastern region, it reflects that the western region has a certain ability to export cultural products in the markets along the "the Belt and Road".

Table: Export of Major Cultural Products by Region in the First Three Quarters of 2025 (Unit: Billion US Dollars)

The statistical caliber of cultural products can be found in the "Catalogue of Cultural Product Import and Export Statistics (2022 Edition)", and the data is sourced from the official website of the General Administration of Customs

(The author is Wang Yang, an assistant researcher at the Digital Economy Laboratory of the University of International Business and Economics)