China's September Exports Surge 36.3 Percent, the Biggest Monthly Jump Since 2021

China's customs authority reported on Wednesday, 14 October 2026 (22 Mehr 1405), that exports in September grew 36.3 percent from a year earlier to $447.18 billion, accelerating from a 25 percent gain in August and, according to Al Jazeera, the biggest monthly jump since 2021. Imports rose 31 percent (28.2 percent in August). Iran's Mehr News Agency put China's monthly trade surplus at $133.5 billion.\n\nTechnology goods led the growth: semiconductor exports rose more than 108 percent and automatic data-processing machines nearly 55 percent. Exports to ASEAN rose 52 percent to $81.7 billion, to the European Union 25.3 percent to $60.15 billion, and to the United States 39.6 percent to $47.88 billion. In the first nine months of the year exports rose 21.3 percent to $3.37 trillion and imports 27.5 percent to $2.43 trillion, leaving a surplus of $938.1 billion for the period.\n\nAn HSBC economist named AI-related technology demand as the key driver. For Iran's markets, China is the largest buyer of Iranian oil and a major consumer of metals, so the strength of its trade and demand feeds into commodity prices; the report says nothing about China's purchases of Iranian oil in September.