Insights · Eurostat 2025
EU–China trade in goods
What the European Union buys from China and sells to it, in the product groups this directory covers, with the EU measures recorded on those goods. Figures are Eurostat’s, for the EU’s 27 members and China excluding Hong Kong; checked 2026-10-19.
- €571.1 bn EU imports from China, 2025 +7.5% on 2024
- €199.5 bn EU exports to China, 2025 −6.6% on 2024
- −€371.6 bn EU trade balance with China 2025
- 22.6% China’s share of EU imports from outside the EU 2025
Jan–Aug 2026: imports €407.0 bn (+9.0% on Jan–Aug 2025), exports €129.1 bn (−1.5%).
Imports and exports since 2015
Show the figures as a table
| Year | Imports | Exports | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | €295.9 bn | €145.6 bn | −€150.4 bn |
| 2016 | €298.9 bn | €153.4 bn | −€145.5 bn |
| 2017 | €322.8 bn | €178.8 bn | −€144.0 bn |
| 2018 | €342.6 bn | €187.9 bn | −€154.7 bn |
| 2019 | €363.5 bn | €198.5 bn | −€165.0 bn |
| 2020 | €385.0 bn | €203.0 bn | −€182.0 bn |
| 2021 | €472.5 bn | €223.5 bn | −€249.0 bn |
| 2022 | €628.8 bn | €231.0 bn | −€397.8 bn |
| 2023 | €523.7 bn | €223.7 bn | −€300.0 bn |
| 2024 | €531.4 bn | €213.5 bn | −€317.9 bn |
| 2025 | €571.1 bn | €199.5 bn | −€371.6 bn |
What the imports are, 2025
By SITC section. The share is China’s part of everything the EU imported in that section from outside the EU.
- Machinery and transport equipment €305.7 bn · 36% of extra-EU
- Miscellaneous manufactured articles €129.6 bn · 36% of extra-EU
- Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material €65.0 bn · 27% of extra-EU
- Chemicals and related products, n.e.s. €55.7 bn · 16% of extra-EU
- Food, drinks and tobacco €6.7 bn · 4% of extra-EU
- Raw materials €4.8 bn · 5% of extra-EU
- Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials €1.9 bn · <1% of extra-EU
- Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere in the SITC €1.6 bn · 5% of extra-EU
Product groups this directory covers
EU imports from China by HS code, 2025. A group counts every supplier shipping from China, foreign-owned factories included — not only the companies listed here.
| Product group | Imports 2025 | vs 2024 | China’s share of extra-EU imports | On this site |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laptops and portable computers HS 847130 | €26.6 bn | +4.2% | 87% | Computers & Devices EU alternatives → |
| Smartphones HS 851713 | €26.2 bn | +1.3% | 66% | Phones EU alternatives → |
| Lithium-ion batteries HS 850760 | €25.7 bn | +30.8% | 90% | Energy & Climate EU alternatives → |
| Network equipment (switching, routing, base stations) HS 851762 | €10.3 bn | −15.7% | 32% | Telecom & Networking EU alternatives → |
| Solar cells and modules HS 854142, 854143 | €7.9 bn | −27.2% | 98% | Energy & Climate EU alternatives → |
| Battery-electric cars HS 870380 | €6.4 bn | −28.5% | 42% | Energy & Climate EU alternatives → |
| Air conditioners and heat pumps HS 841510, 841581, 841582, 841861 | €3.4 bn | +19.8% | 72% | Cooling & Thermal EU alternatives → |
| Digital and video cameras (incl. CCTV) HS 852589 | €2.8 bn | +15.1% | 48% | Video Surveillance EU alternatives → |
| Unmanned aircraft (drones) HS 8806 | €1.0 bn | +36.8% | 76% | Drones & eVTOL EU alternatives → |
| Permanent magnets HS 850511 | €943 m | −3.1% | 88% | Materials & Components EU alternatives → |
| Medical imaging (CT, MRI, ultrasound) HS 902212, 901813, 901812 | €709 m | +5.9% | 27% | Medical Technology EU alternatives → |
| Wind turbines (generating sets) HS 850231 | €422 m | +102.7% | 60% | Energy & Climate EU alternatives → |
| Industrial robots HS 847950 | €140 m | +53.8% | 25% | Industrial Automation & Machinery EU alternatives → |
| Rare-earth compounds HS 2846 | €42 m | +54.1% | 37% | Materials & Components EU alternatives → |
What the EU sells to China
High-value EU export groups, 2025. The share is China’s part of the EU’s exports of that group outside the EU.
| Product group | Exports 2025 | vs 2024 | China’s share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Semiconductor manufacturing equipment HS 8486 | €10.2 bn | −11.0% | 33% |
| Medicines (packaged doses) HS 3004 | €9.2 bn | +4.3% | 5% |
| Passenger cars HS 8703 | €8.4 bn | −43.0% | 5% |
| Aircraft and spacecraft HS 8802 | €7.1 bn | +53.7% | 13% |
| Medical instruments and appliances HS 9018 | €2.2 bn | −5.3% | 6% |
Recorded measures on these goods
From the records on this site’s product pages. Duties make imports dearer; they do not stop anyone buying. Each entry links to the official publication.
EU trade-remedy duties
- new battery electric cars (up to nine seats) from China, including range-extender (EREV) models; plug-in hybrids are outside the scope
countervailing duty: Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2754
Listed here: BYD, NIO, XPeng, Li Auto, Xiaomi EV, Geely Auto, Great Wall Motor, Leapmotor, Seres / AITO, Changan Auto, Chery, GAC (Aion), SAIC-GM-Wuling
- self-propelled mobile access equipment for lifting people (working height 6 m or more) and its sections, from China
anti-dumping duty: Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/45 (amended by (EU) 2025/796) · countervailing duty: Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/796
- 1,4-butanediol (BDO) from China
anti-dumping duty: Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1373
Listed here: Wanhua Chemical
- silicon (CN 2804 69 00, less than 99.99% silicon) from China
anti-dumping duty: Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1394
Listed here: Hoshine Silicon
- titanium dioxide (TiO2) pigment and preparations with at least 80% TiO2, from China
anti-dumping duty: Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/4
Listed here: LB Group (Lomon Billions)
- polyethylene terephthalate (PET) with a viscosity number of 78 ml/g or more, from China
anti-dumping duty: Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/1040
Listed here: Sinopec Chemicals
- epoxy resins (products with more than 35% epoxy resin) from China
anti-dumping duty: Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1505
Listed here: Sinopec Chemicals
EU and member-state market-access rules
- National 5G security rules (DE)German mobile operators must have no critical Huawei or ZTE components in their 5G core networks by the end of 2026, and replace critical functions of Huawei and ZTE network-management systems in access and transport networks by the end of 2029. Base-station hardware is not covered.
- National 5G security rules (SE)Swedish operators using the 3.5 GHz and 2.3 GHz 5G bands may not use Huawei or ZTE products in central network functions; existing ones had to be removed by 1 January 2025. The 1800 MHz licences from 2028 carry the same condition.
- International Procurement InstrumentTenders from Chinese suppliers are excluded from EU public procurement of medical devices (CPV 331) worth €5 million or more, until 30 June 2030; winning bidders may source at most 50% of the contract value from China. An EU-based subsidiary with real business in the EU may bid, but its China-made devices count toward that 50%. Smaller tenders and private buyers are not affected.
Listed here: Mindray Patient Monitoring, Mindray Ultrasound, United Imaging, MicroPort MedBot, Edge Medical · source ↗
China’s export controls on these goods
Licences China requires to export them — a supply risk for buyers in the EU, not an EU rule.
- Core technology of large models with ≥2 trillion parameters, ≥10^26 FLOPs of training compute or a global top-10 ranking: weights, key checkpoints, source code, architecture, training and inference techniques
MOFCOM/MOST Announcement No. 48 of 2026 (draft revision of the Catalogue of Technologies Prohibited and Restricted from Export, item 266504X) · draft, comments until 2026-11-15
- NdFeB permanent magnet materials (magnets or magnet powder) containing terbium or dysprosium (1C904.a.4, 1C905.a.4)
MOFCOM/GAC Announcement No. 18 of 2025 · in force since 2025-04-04
Listed here: JL Mag Rare-Earth, Ningbo Yunsheng, China Northern Rare Earth
- China-origin NdFeB magnets containing terbium or dysprosium, and parts and assemblies containing them, when re-exported by companies outside China; foreign-made items containing at least 0.1% by value of listed Chinese rare-earth materials (Annex 1)
MOFCOM Announcement No. 61 of 2025 · suspended until 2026-11-10
Listed here: JL Mag Rare-Earth, Ningbo Yunsheng, China Northern Rare Earth
- Holmium, erbium, thulium, europium and ytterbium metals, alloys, oxides and compounds (1C909-1C913), including the europium, holmium and erbium oxides Northern lists
MOFCOM/GAC Announcement No. 57 of 2025 · suspended until 2026-11-10
Listed here: China Northern Rare Earth
- Natural flake graphite and its products, including spherical and expanded graphite; synthetic graphite materials and products with purity above 99.9%, flexural strength above 30 MPa and density above 1.73 g/cm3
MOFCOM/GAC Announcement No. 39 of 2023 · in force since 2023-12-01
Listed here: BTR New Material
- Artificial graphite anode materials (3C901.b.1) and blended artificial and natural graphite anode materials (3C902.b.2), plus anode granulation, graphitization and coating equipment and process technology
MOFCOM/GAC Announcement No. 58 of 2025 · suspended until 2026-11-10
Listed here: BTR New Material, Ronbay Technology
How to read these figures
- EU = the 27 member states (EU27_2020); China excludes Hong Kong. Imports are valued at the EU border including transport and insurance (CIF), exports at the EU border (FOB).
- Yearly totals are Eurostat’s monthly figures summed by calendar year (ext_st_eu27_2020sitc); product groups are annual Comext figures by HS code (DS-045409). Eurostat revises recent data, so figures can differ slightly from earlier releases.
- An HS group is broader than the products listed here: smartphones include every brand assembled in China, and network equipment includes routers and modems as well as base stations.
- Sources: Eurostat ext_st_eu27_2020sitc, Eurostat Comext DS-045409; data last updated by Eurostat 2026-10-16, retrieved 2026-10-19. See also the methodology.