The offshore yuan traded around 6.69 per dollar on Wednesday, hovering near its strongest level since July 2022, as robust external demand continued to bolster China’s economic outlook. China’s trade surplus widened to $133.53 billion in September 2026 from $88.72 billion a year earlier, the largest monthly surplus since January 2025. Exports jumped 36.3% year-on-year to a record $447.18 billion, while imports rose 31.0% to an all-time high of $313.66 billion. The trade surplus reached $938 billion in the first nine months of the year, putting China on course to hit the $1 trillion mark.
At the same time, consumer inflation edged up to a three-month high of 0.9% in September from 0.8% in August. Producer price inflation accelerated to 5.0% from 3.8%, the fastest increase since June 2022. Renewed hostilities in the Middle East and heightened risks to global oil supplies have intensified cost pressures, squeezing corporate profit margins as firms struggle to pass higher input costs on to consumers.
