The trade balance was registered at 649.34bn yuan ($91.02bn) in August, up from CNY601.98bn in July, the General Administration of Customs reported on Tuesday.

In dollar terms, the surplus rose to $91.02bn, comfortably ahead of the $83.90bn expected by the market.

Exports grew year-on-year for the fifth straight month, rising by 8.7% – their most since March 2023 – to a 23-month high of $308.65bn. This was up from 7.0% annual growth in July and well ahead of the 6.5% increase projected by economists.

Despite ongoing political tensions over trade with the US, exports to the world's largest economy were up 4.9% on last August, while shipments to the European Union grew by 13.4%.

Exports to South Korea were also up 3.4%, while Taiwanese exports gained 6.8% and shipments to South East Asian countries gained 8.8%.

In contrast, imports were just 0.5% higher than last year at $217.63bn, slowing sharply from the 7.2% growth seen in July and below the 2.0% increase expected, with a drop in EU imports weighing on the overall balance.