The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Chinese global shipments during 2016. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from China.

1. Electrical machinery, equipment: US$557.1 billion (26.3% of total exports)
2. Machinery including computers: $344.8 billion (16.3%)
3. Furniture, bedding, lighting , signs, prefab buildings: $89.5 billion (4.2%)
4. Knit or crochet clothing, accessories: $75 billion (3.5%)
5. Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): $72.8 billion (3.4%)
6. Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $67.9 billion (3.2%)
7. Plastics, plastic articles: $64 billion (3%)
8. Vehicles: $60.4 billion (2.9%)
9. Articles of iron or steel: $53.1 billion (2.5%)
10. Footwear: $47.8 billion (2.3%)

Plastics and plastic articles represent the fastest-growing among the top 10 export categories, up 153.4% for the 7-year period starting in 2009.

In second place for improving export sales was the furniture, bedding, lighting, signs and prefab buildings category which rose 129.9%.

Made-in-China vehicles posted the third-fastest gain in value up 116.3%, followed by electrical machinery and equipment up by 85%.

The slowest-growing among the top 10 Chinese exports was knit or crochet clothing and accessories which was up by 39.6%.

Overall in 2016, China posted a $530.3 billion trade surplus up 170.4% since 2009.

The following types of Chinese product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.

In a nutshell, net exports is the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.

1. Machinery including computers: US$197.1 billion (Up by 75.5% since 2009)
2. Electrical machinery, equipment: $142.7 billion (Up by 148.9%)
3. Furniture, bedding, lighting, signs, prefab buildings: $86.3 billion (Up by 132.5%)
4. Knit or crochet clothing, accessories: $72.6 billion (Up by 36.7%)
5. Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): $69.2 billion (Up by 51.4%)
6. Footwear: $44.7 billion (Up by 64.9%)
7. Articles of iron or steel: $43.5 billion (Up by 75.1%)
8. Toys, games: $42.4 billion (Up by 66.6%)
9. Iron, steel: $26.6 billion (Down by -285.2%)
10. Leather/animal gut articles: $25.8 billion (Up by 79.4%)

China has highly positive net exports in the international trade of machinery including computers. In turn, these cashflows indicate China’s strong competitive advantages under the machinery-related category.

Below are exports from China that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country China’s goods trail Chinese importer spending on foreign products.

1. Mineral fuels including oil: -US$149 billion (Up by 43.8% since 2009)
2. Ores, slag, ash: -$92.9 billion (Up by 33.9%)
3. Oil seeds: -$35.6 billion (Up by 85.6%)
4. Copper: -$27.4 billion (Up by 5.7%)
5. Optical, technical, medical apparatus: -$24.8 billion (Down by -11.8%)
6. Aircraft, spacecraft: -$19.4 billion (Up by 102%)
7. Woodpulp: -$17.1 billion (Up by 62.3%)
8. Pharmaceuticals: -$13.7 billion (Up by 428.3%)
9. Vehicles: -$11.1 billion (Up by 2461.5%)
10. Meat: -$9.4 billion (Up by 898.1%)

China has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits for mineral fuels-related products particularly crude oils, petroleum gas and coal.

These cashflow deficiencies clearly indicate China’s competitive disadvantages in the international mineral fuels-related market, but also represent key opportunities for China to improve its position in the global economy through focused innovations.

Chinese Export Companies

China placed 149 corporations on the Forbes Global 2000 for 2015. Below is a sample of the major Chinese export companies that Forbes included:

• PetroChina (oil, gas)
• Sinopec-China Petroleum (oil, gas)
• SAIC Motor (cars, trucks)
• Dongfeng Motor Group (cars, trucks)
• BYD (cars, trucks)
• Gree Electric Appliances (household appliances)
• Midea Group Co. Ltd. (household appliances)
• Tsingtao Brewery (beverages)
• Sinopharm Group (pharmaceuticals)
• Aluminum Corporation of China (aluminum)
• Dongfang Electric (electrical equipment)

According to global trade intelligence firm Zepol, the following smaller companies are also examples of leading Chinese exporters:

• APLL (beddings, clothing)
• UPS SCS China (chairs, beddings)
• Winners Products Engineering (cooking appliances, sheets, charcoal)
• Maersk Logistics China (footwear, bedding, clothing)
• Carven Industries (furniture, building stone)