China exports to Portuguese language nations hit new record in Q1

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China exports to Portuguese language nations hit new record in Q1

9:48 CAT | 30 Apr 2025

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Macauhub]

Chinese exports to Portuguese Language Countries had their best start to the year ever, increasing 2.3% in the first three months, compared to the same period in 2024, according to official data.

According to information from the Chinese Customs Service released on Monday, goods sold to Portuguese-speaking markets through March reached US$19.7 billion (€17.3 billion).

This is the highest figure for a first quarter since the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese Language Countries (Macau Forum) began presenting this data in 2013.

The data released reveal that the main reason for the new record was Angola, whose imports from China more than doubled to US$1.58 billion (€1.39 billion).

Even so, and despite a year-on-year decline of 2%, Brazil remains the largest buyer in the Portuguese-speaking bloc, with goods from China reaching US$15.8 billion (€13.9 billion).

Third on the list, now behind Angola, is Portugal, which bought US$1.48 billion (€1.3 billion) worth of products from China, 1.3% more than in the first three months of 2024.

In the opposite direction, exports from Portuguese-speaking countries to China fell by 30.1% in the first quarter of 2025, compared to the same period last year.

Between January and March, the Portuguese-speaking bloc sold goods worth US$24.5 billion (€21.5 billion) to the Chinese market.

This is the lowest figure for the first three months of a year since 2020, at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The decline was mainly due to the largest Portuguese-speaking supplier to the Chinese market, Brazil, whose sales fell by more than a third (34.1%) to US$19.3 billion (€16.9 billion).

Angola, China’s second largest trading partner in the Portuguese-speaking bloc, also saw exports fall by 10.6% to US$3.87 billion (€3.42 billion).

Similarly, sales of goods from Portugal to China fell by 14.4% to US$635.3 million (€557.5 million).

This was in contrast to Mozambique, whose exports to China rose 18.5% to US$484.5 million (€425.2 million).

Exports from Equatorial Guinea to the Chinese market fell by almost a third (32.1%) to US$204 million (€179 million).

Sales from Timor-Leste and São Tomé and Príncipe also shrank by 97.4% and 53.2%, respectively, although neither country exported more than US$3,000 (about €2,600) in goods to China.

Cabo Verde and Guinea-Bissau did not sell any products to the Chinese market in the first three months of 2025.

China recorded a trade deficit of US$4.79 billion (€4.21 billion) with the Portuguese-speaking bloc between January and March.

In total, trade between Portuguese Language Countries and China reached US$44.2 billion (€38.8 billion), 18.6% less than in the same period last year.

Source: Lusa