According to Reuters, the direction of China's exports is shifting toward more sophisticated technology goods. In the first half of 2026, for example, Chinese chip shipments nearly doubled, reaching $177.28 billion.

The shift in the commodity mix: from consumer goods to technology

There is a move away from exports of footwear, toys and furniture, while shipments of cars, chips, machine tools and chemical products are growing. According to the information, China now exports more cars than Germany and the United States combined.

Chip exports in the first half of 2026

177.28billion dollars
2nearly doubled

Factors driving the change in the export vector

This shift is attributed to a state campaign that for more than a decade has been aimed at advancing China in global value chains, as well as to subsidies provided to factories. These measures are intended to support the economy while the authorities work to address problems in the real estate market and until consumers resume spending.

In semiconductors, China supplies more affordable components such as chips on mature process nodes, conventional memory, server components, as well as transformers, cables and control panels for data centers, while the most advanced AI chips are designed by American companies and manufactured in Taiwan.

If you look at mature chips and the physical components around them, here too China leads again.
Ruby Osman, Tony Blair, senior adviser on geopolitics at the Institute for Global Change

Implications for the global market

For buyers around the world, this could mean more affordable goods, but for workers at American and German factories there is a risk of job losses.