Brendan Kelly is a nonresident fellow on Chinese economy and technology at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis. Shay Wester is the director of Asian economic affairs at the Institute.
A surge in exports pushed China's trade surplus close to $1 trillion in 2024, with ASEAN the largest destination for Chinese shipments. Many of these exports are intermediate goods that have in turn supported ASEAN's own export growth -- shipments to the U.S. exceeded $350 billion last year.
