Is the European Union reliant on trade with China?

Despite global tensions and the 2025 Trump tariff war, trade between the European Union and China last year remained strong.

The EU exported €199.6 billion worth of goods to China, while imports reached €559.4 billion, creating a trade deficit of €359.8 billion, according to the latest Eurostat figures.

Compared with 2024, EU exports fell by 6.5%, while imports from the Asian giant rose by 6.4%.

But over the longer term, since 2015, EU exports to China have grown by 37.1%, while imports have surged by 89%.

EU exports to China are led by machinery and mechanical appliances, such as machines for preparing textile fibres and harvesting machinery, making up 22.7% of the total.

They are followed by electrical machinery, such as storage water heaters and hair clippers, and audio-visual equipment at 14.5%, and vehicles at 8.2%.

On the import side, just five categories account for nearly two-thirds of all goods.

Electrical machinery and audio-visual equipment alone represent 29.5%, followed by machinery and mechanical appliances at 19%.

Redirection of trade

The impacts of the 2025 Trump tariff war led the countries to adjust production networks and logistics and redirect shipments to non-tariffed markets.

For instance, in 2025, China offset US market losses by expanding trade with Southeast Asia, Europe and Africa.

Yet, trade flows proved resilient, with both European and Chinese exports continuing to grow, according to Brussels-based think tank Bruegel.

However, the bloc is struggling to contain a ballooning trade deficit with China, which has raised serious concerns of unfair competition, industrial decline and mass unemployment across Europe.

Even though Brussels has for years complained about the harmful effects of Beijing’s state-run economic model, such as industrial overcapacity and extensive subsidies, EU member states cannot agree on a common line of action to push back.

More recently, Péter Magyar, who won a landslide election in Hungary last Sunday, said he would “review” Chinese investments in the country, especially on electric vehicles, but “not with the aim of shutting them down or preventing them from happening”.

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