Tianjin Port in North China's Tianjin Municipality, a main port in North China for trade with BRI partner countries, on December 18, 2024 Photo: VCG

China's foreign trade in goods in the first quarter of 2025 grew by 1.3 percent year-on-year, reaching 10.3 trillion yuan ($1.41 trillion), which marks a stable start to the year, as various support policies continue to produce effects, official data showed on Monday.

Between January and March, the country's exports grew by 6.9 percent year-on-year, totaling 6.13 trillion yuan while imports decreased by 6 percent year-on-year to 4.17 trillion yuan, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs (GAC).

In the first quarter, China's import and export volume surpassed 10 trillion yuan for eight consecutive quarters, reaching a new record high compared to the same period in previous years. On a monthly basis, imports and exports declined by 2.2 percent in January, remained stable in February and rebounded with a 6 percent growth in March, GAC deputy head Wang Lingjun said at a press conference on Monday.

Over the period, imports and exports with Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partner countries grew faster than overall foreign trade. In the first quarter, China's trade with BRI partner countries totaled 5.26 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.2 percent, which is 0.9 percentage points higher than the overall trade growth. This accounted for 51.1 percent of China's total foreign trade. Additionally, China's trade with ASEAN reached 1.71 trillion yuan, up by 7.1 percent year-on-year, GAC data showed.

Another highlight is the rapid growth of imports and exports of electro-mechanical products. In the first quarter, the imports and exports of electro-mechanical products increased by 7.7 percent, reaching 5.29 trillion yuan. Exports of household appliances, laptops, and electronic components grew rapidly, while imports of parts of automatic data processing machines, ships and marine engineering equipment also experienced a rapid growth, according to the GAC.

Overall, despite increasing external challenges, localities, government agencies and export-oriented enterprises have actively responded, ensuring a stable start to China's foreign trade imports and exports in the first quarter, Wang said.