China maintained its position as Germany's most significant trading partner last year, and its foreign trade performance in the first two months of 2026 has been equally impressive. Both exports and imports grew at a pace that significantly exceeded prior expert forecasts. Data released by China's General Administration of Customs in Beijing showed that the country's exports, measured in U.S. dollars, increased by 21.8% year-on-year in January and February. Imports also saw a substantial rise of 19.8% during the same period. This resulted in a trade surplus of $213.6 billion (approximately €184 billion). Analysts had generally anticipated export growth of just over 7% for the first two months of the year, while market predictions for import growth were around 6.3%. The actual reported figures far surpassed these expectations. Because the Lunar New Year holiday and the subsequent week-long break typically fall in either January or February, China usually combines and releases trade data for these two months to smooth out distortions caused by the holiday period. This year, the holiday occurred in February, so the statistics were published on a combined basis. It is noteworthy that this rapid growth in China's foreign trade occurred before military actions were launched against Iran by Israel and the United States, a conflict that has now begun to impact global trade. For Germany, China remained its most important trading partner last year. According to Germany's Federal Statistical Office, German imports from China totaled €170.6 billion in 2025, keeping China as the top source of German imports. Key goods from China primarily included data processing equipment, electrical and optical products, electrical equipment, and various types of machinery. Meanwhile, German exports to China declined, falling by 9.7% year-on-year to €81.3 billion.