China's Current Account Receipts and Payments Total Up 16% Year-on-Year in First Half of the Year

China's current account receipts and payments totaled US$4.6 trillion in the first half of the year, up 16% year-on-year, according to the Report on China's Balance of Payments for the First Half of 2026 released by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

The current account surplus stood at US$378 billion, and its ratio to gross domestic product (GDP) remained stable.

In terms of trade in goods, the total volume of goods exports and imports under the balance of payments basis rose 18% year-on-year in the first half, with trade related to artificial intelligence and green energy performing notably well.

Goods imports grew nearly 20% year-on-year, 2.3 percentage points faster than the growth of exports.

In terms of trade in services, services exports rose 21% year-on-year in the first half, with the increase in foreign nationals traveling to China and the acceleration of exports of emerging producer services contributing 16% and 42% of the growth in services exports, respectively.

Services imports grew 7% year-on-year, and China remains a major importer of services globally.

China's cross-border investment and financing became more active, with the scale of two-way investment increasing simultaneously.

In the first half, net inflows of various types of investment into China increased by US$192 billion, compared with a net increase of US$68.2 billion in the same period last year.

Among these, foreign direct investment in China rebounded year-on-year, foreign investment in China's securities generally increased, and other investment by foreign parties such as domestic deposits and loans rose.

China's outbound investment grew relatively quickly.

Among these, outward direct investment remained stable, outward securities investment continued to increase, and the provision of financing from China to overseas destinations grew rapidly.

At the end of June 2026, China's external assets stood at US$12.2 trillion, up 3.3% from the end of 2025; external liabilities stood at US$8.4 trillion, up 8.3% from the end of 2025, and net external assets stood at US$3.8 trillion.

The report shows that the scale of current account receipts and payments is expected to continue growing, with coordinated development of trade exports and imports.

Cross-border two-way investment is expected to remain active, various types of investment into China are expected to continue improving, and China's outbound investment is expected to continue growing steadily.