(March 22): People’s Bank of China (PBOC) governor Pan Gongsheng defended his nation’s trade surplus, comments that come as exports continued to boom to start 2026. The Asian nation had a record goods trade surplus of US$1.2 trillion (RM4.7 trillion) last year, and exports surged more than 20% in the first two months of 2026 from a year ago. Speaking at the same forum, Premier Li Qiang pledged to do more to address the worries about China’s large surplus, including by broadening market access to the services sector and increasing imports of items like medical products. Pan also mentioned a slew of “non-economic factors” that damaged global economic balances, including front-loading of Chinese exports triggered by US tariffs, and export controls that distorted business and household expectations. Pan noted that China has the world’s biggest services trade deficit, despite also having the biggest goods trade surplus.

Source: The Edge Markets March 22, 2026 07:16 UTC