Chinese exports to south-east Asia are growing at almost twice the rate of the past four years, as Donald Trump’s trade war pushes Beijing to tighten trade links with its neighbours.
Chinese exports to the six largest economies in south-east Asia — Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia — rose 23.5 per cent from $330bn to $407bn in the first nine months of the year compared with the same period last year, according to official import data from those countries collated for the Financial Times by ISI Markets.
Chinese exports to those countries have doubled over the past five years, while China’s trade surplus with the region hit an all-time high this year. The 2025 increase is nearly twice as high as the 13 per cent compound annual growth rate in the previous four years.