China’s May shipments to U.S. clock 5-year high growth at 35% as overall exports jump on tech boost in World Economy News 10/06/2026 China’s trade growth held up better than expected in May, as surging AI-related exports helped buffer the economy against disruption from the Iran war, with U.S.-bound shipment logging the strongest jump in five years. Overall exports rose 19.4% from a year earlier in U.S. dollar value terms, customs data showed Tuesday, accelerating from the 14.1% gain in April. Economists polled by Reuters had pegged growth at 15%. “The war is boosting demand for green exports, such as electric vehicles, batteries, solar products, and AI-related technology goods,” said Sheana Yue, senior economist at Oxford Economics, expecting the outperformance in high-tech product export growth to persist. Overall exports of integrated circuits soared 110% in terms of value from a year earlier, in part driven by unit price surges. Outbound shipment of high-tech goods surged 50% in May from a year ago, while imports jumped 47% by value. Shipments to the U.S. soared nearly 35.4% in May from a year earlier, the highest growth since March 2021, according to Wind Information, extending a rebound following a long streak of double-digit declines for the most of last year, pressured by President Donald Trump’s tariffs. China’s tariff disadvantage vis-à-vis Southeast Asia nations has also narrowed, providing a tailwind for exports, said Tianchen Xu, senior economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit. Any additional tariffs imposed on Chinese goods under Trump’s Section 301 review will likely be smaller than those facing rival exporters, giving Chinese manufacturers a further competitive edge, Xu added. Import growth momentum continued to build, expanding 27.4% in May, picking up from the 25.3% rise in April, beating economists’ forecast for a 25% growth. That boosted the trade surplus to $105.4 billion in May. In the first five months this year, China’s import growth has