Shenzhen's Jan-Oct trade reaches 3.74 trillion yuan, still top mainland city

Overview

On November 20, 2025, Shenzhen Customs announced that the city's total imports and exports for January to October 2025 reached 3.74 trillion yuan, keeping Shenzhen in first place among mainland Chinese cities. Exports totaled 2.27 trillion yuan and imports 1.47 trillion yuan, with imports up 6.8% year on year. The figures were reported by Shenzhen Special Zone Daily and posted on the Shenzhen municipal government website on November 21.

Background

Backed by a dense cluster of electronics-focused manufacturing and logistics, Shenzhen has long been one of China's leading trading cities. A notable feature of 2025 is that, amid continued uncertainty in the global trade environment, export growth has slowed while imports and bonded logistics have remained firm.

Many Japanese companies supplying electronic components, machinery and materials operate in Shenzhen, so the city's trade performance is watched as one indicator relevant to Japanese supply chains and business in South China.

Key Points

By trade mode

Category	Value	Year on year	Share
General trade	2 trillion yuan	-	53.5%
Bonded logistics	1 trillion yuan	+7.2%	26.8%
Processing trade	717.91 billion yuan	+2.4%	19.2%

By type of enterprise

• Private enterprises: 2.56 trillion yuan (68.5% of the total)
• Foreign-invested enterprises: 1.05 trillion yuan (up 13.2%, 28% of the total)
• State-owned enterprises: 125.88 billion yuan

Main products

• Exports of mechanical and electrical products: 1.72 trillion yuan (up 4%, 75.7% of exports)
• Computers and parts: 263.96 billion yuan (up 9.6%)
• Audio-visual equipment and parts: 75.59 billion yuan (up 6.5%)
• Lithium batteries: 70.06 billion yuan (up 35.6%)
• 3D printers: 6.75 billion yuan (up 19.8%)
• Medical devices: 25.12 billion yuan (up 5.5%)
• Imports of mechanical and electrical products: 1.2 trillion yuan (up 8.5%, 81.6% of imports)
• Imports of agricultural products: 82.26 billion yuan (up 10%, 5.6% of imports)

Trade with Shenzhen's top ten partners totaled 2.93 trillion yuan, up 1.9% and accounting for 78.5% of the total. The release did not break down trade by partner, so the value of trade with Japan cannot be confirmed from it.

By trade mode, processing trade, in which imported parts are processed and re-exported, accounts for less than 20% of the total, while general trade makes up more than half. Bonded logistics through bonded zones and similar channels is also growing, suggesting that Shenzhen's trade is shifting from an assembly-base model toward a structure with more diverse forms of transactions. The sharp rise in lithium battery exports is thought to reflect the expansion of new energy industries such as electric vehicles and energy storage systems. Established strengths such as computers and audio-visual equipment continued to grow, while newer products such as 3D printers expanded quickly.

Significance for Japan-Shenzhen Exchange

Trade by foreign-invested enterprises grew 13.2%, faster than the overall figure, which suggests that foreign companies, including Japanese ones, continue to play a meaningful role in Shenzhen's trade. The expansion of higher-value exports such as lithium batteries, 3D printers and medical devices is seen by some as reflecting the upgrading of Shenzhen's industrial structure.

The 8.5% rise in imports of mechanical and electrical products is also a development of interest to Japanese companies that supply high-performance components and manufacturing equipment. At the same time, shifts in demand for individual products and in the trade environment affect companies differently, so specific trends need to be followed closely.

Outlook

Shenzhen Customs will continue to publish monthly statistics, and full-year results are expected in early 2026. Points to watch include whether annual trade ends above the previous year and how the contrast between sluggish exports and firm imports develops.

From the Association

Shenzhen's trade statistics are basic information for understanding the current state of economic exchange between the two regions. The Association will continue to follow such economic data and policy developments and to share useful information with its members and with stakeholders in Japan and Shenzhen.