The European Union has experienced a shift in its biggest trade partners since the early 2000s. Over the past two decades, the share of EU imports flowing from China has more than doubled, from around 8 percent in 2002 to over 20 percent in 2023, making China the EU's largest external import partner. At the same time, the proportion of total imports coming from the United Kingdom, which was historically a large importer to EU countries (the UK was an EU member state until 2020), have more than halved, from 18 percent to 7 percent. This secular trend existed before the UK voted to leave the EU in 2016, however, there has been a notable drop in imports from the UK since Brexit was enacted in 2020. By contrast the share of the EU's import trade taken by the U.S., Switzerland, and the Rest of World have remained relatively stable over this period. The share of exports coming from Russia was growing steadily in the period before 2014, after which the EU imposed economic sanctions on Russia due to the illegal annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. Imports from Russia collapsed in 2023, due to the effect of the additional economic sanctions placed on Russia in response to the full scale invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022.The Russian Federation is now only the tenth largest exporter to the EU, after India, Japan, and South Korea.

The United States is the European Union's biggest trading partner as of 2023, with the total value of trade between the EU and the North American country exceeding 848 billion dollars. China was the EU's second largest trading partner, however, in contrast to the substantial trade surplus which the EU has with the United States, the EU has a large trade deficit with China. In 2022, the EU imported 292 billion Euros more worth of goods from China than it exported to the east Asian country. Other prominent trade partners in 2022 included the UK, Switzerland, and Turkey.

As of 2023, the country from which EU member states imported the most was from Germany, followed by the Netherlands. In terms of non-EU exporters to the EU, China is currently the largest trading partner, accounting for 8 percent of all imports in 2023 - a tenfold increase in its share of EU imports since 1988. Other exporters who have grown to be important trading partners for EU countries in recent decades include the post-communist countries of Poland and Czechia, both of whom joined the EU in 2004. Poland's share of EU imports has more than doubled, from 1.4 percent to 3.8 percent, in the period since its entry into the EU, while Czechia's has increased from 1.3 percent to 2.8 percent over the same period. Several exporters have declined in relative importance for EU countries during this period, with the United Kingdom, United States, France, and Italy seeing their shares decline. The United Kingdom in particular has seen its share of EU imports drop to nearly a third of their 1997 level, when the UK made up 7.2 percent of all imports into EU countries. The UK reported a significant drop in 2021, the first full year after the country left the EU, however, the UK's share of EU imports has slightly risen in subsequent years.

The export trade of the European Union experienced some notable shifts over the two decades since 2002, with China emerging as a significant export market and the United Kingdom losing its place as the EU's single largest export partner. The United Kingdom's declining share of EU exports The UK, which was a member of the European Union until 2020, declined in its importance as an export market for EU producers over this period. Representing over a fifth of the export trade in 2002, the UK now takes only 13 percent of EU exports, and looks likely to be eclipsed by China's growing share in the coming years. The complications to EU-UK trade caused by the UK's exit agreement with the EU is also likely to contribute to slowing trade flows between the two partners. China's emergence as a key export market As with most other areas of the global economy, the past two decades has largely been the story of China's emergence as a key trading partner. China's share of EU exports was comparable to Japan or Norway at the beginning of the period, while it now represents the EU's third largest export market. While this is a significant change, China takes up a much larger share of imports into the EU, where it is the largest single trading partner. As Chinese incomes rise in the coming decades, the significance of China as an export market for EU producers is likely to rise, geopolitical tension notwithstanding. The Euro and exports to the U.S. The EU's export trade with the United States over this period experienced a relative decline in the period running up to 2014, as the Euro appreciated in its value against the U.S. dollar, making European exports more expensive for Americans. This declining share of the EU's export trade taken by the U.S. was reversed in the latter half of the 2010s however, as the Euro depreciated and European exports to the U.S. increased. Issues with Russia Another notable trend over the period was Russia's emergence as a key export market in the mid-2000s, as the Russian economy grew quickly and Russian consumers began to demand EU made products. Russia declined as a market for EU exports after 2014, as trade was complicated by Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, and the subsequent devaluation of the Ruble and collapse in the price of Ural crude oil.

In 2024, 12.5 percent of goods imports into the United Kingdom came from Germany, making it the main import partner that year. Imports from the United States accounted for ten percent of UK goods imports, making America the UK's second main import partner, followed by China on 9.8 percent. As of this year, the overall import value of cars to the UK was approximately 38.4 billion British pounds, the most of any commodity in 2024. Europe remains UK's main trading partner Several years after the Brexit vote, and the eventual departure from the European Union, European countries account for most of the UK's trade. As of 2024, approximately 50.8 percent of the UK's exports went to Europe, with 60.1 percent of imports coming from there, the vast majority of which were in the European Single Market. After Europe, American countries were the UK's main destination for exports, at around 19.2 percent, while countries in the Asia Pacific region were the second-main source for imports, at 19.1 percent in 2024. UK attitudes to Brexit in 2025 Since the UK left the EU in 2020, there has been a gradual but consistent increase in the share of people who believe Brexit to have been a mistake. As of January 2025, when asked if they thought it was right or wrong to leave the EU, approximately 55 percent thought it was the wrong decision, compared with 30 percent who thought it was the correct choice. In addition to this, a majority of Britons thought that the impacts of leaving the EU had been mainly negative. Regarding international trade, 57 percent believed that Brexit had been detrimental, compared with just 11 percent who thought it had a positive impact.

Germany, the United States, and France were the three biggest export markets for exporters from European Union member states, as of 2022. Over the two decades from 2002 to 2022, Germany, Poland, China, and the rest of the EU grew substantially as export markets, with China and Poland both more than doubling their shares of total EU exports. On the other hand, the UK was the fastest declining export market, as its share of EU exports sank from approximately 9.5 percent to less than 5 percent in 2022.

Replication files for a book chapter with Cambridge University Press. Many public opinion surveys show that most citizens view international trade favourably. However, differences emerge when asked about support for trade with specific countries, as people are more supportive of trade with some countries than with others. In other words, people have preferences for specific trading partners. Whereas citizens mostly only have an indirect influence on countries’ trade policy, political elites, such as legislators, have a direct say in these policies. Just as citizens, they also may prefer some potential trading partners to others. With this in mind, this contribution asks two related questions: what explains attitudes towards trade with different countries? And do the factors that determine trading partner preferences differ between citizens and political elites? We address these questions for the case of Latin American countries. Data from the Design of Trade Agreements (DESTA) project (Dür et al. 2014) show that these countries have been particularly active in forging trade agreements. Importantly, countries in Latin America have reached out to Western partners, such as the United States (US) and the European Union (EU), but also to non-Western countries, in particular China. Which entity becomes the major trading partner has important implications, as China, the EU, and the US put forward substantially different models of trade liberalization.

ASEAN remained China's most important trading partner in 2024, with a total import and export value of about 6.99 trillion yuan. The European Union followed with a trade value of approximately 5.59 trillion yuan.

Russia's leading five export partners in 2023 were China, India, Turkey, Kazakhstan, and Brazil. The value of total exports from Russia to its major trade partner — China — exceeded 128 billion U.S. dollars. Trade between Russia and China China was not only the leading export destination of Russian commodities, but also the major import partner of the country. Prior to 2018, the value of Russian imports from China prevailed the Russian exports’ worth to the country. It was in 2018 when for the first time, the trade balance of Russia with China turned positive and amounted to about 3.8 billion U.S. dollars. Russia's primary export goods, mineral and energy products, were also the most imported commodities by China from the country. Russian trade with Europe Trade flows between Russia and the EU have been in decline over the past years. In 2023, the EU export value to Russia exceeded 38 billion U.S. dollars — roughly 12 billion U.S. dollars below the EU imports’ worth from Russia in that year. Germany was the major importer of Russian goods in the region.

In 2024, the European Union countries imported approximately 14.4 percent of the Chinese export volume. In that year, ASEAN was the largest Chinese merchandise importer. Distribution of Chinese exports In 2024, China exported goods with a total value of around 25.5 trillion yuan and imported goods with a value of 18.4 trillion yuan. That year, China ranked second among the countries with the largest gross domestic product, following the United States.China’s economic prosperity has been closely related to its status as the world’s factory. For about a decade between 2005 and 2015, exports contributed more than 20 percent to China’s gross domestic product. However, the share of exports to GDP contribution is currently on the decline. Nonetheless, China maintains a trade surplus of about 992 billion U.S. dollars and remains first among countries with the highest trade surplus worldwide as of 2023. While China displays high growth potential for service exports such as tourism, transportation, banking and financial services, as well as insurance and education services, the main focus of China’s export industry remains merchandise. In 2022, Chinese merchandise exports made up 14.4 percent of all global exports, whereas service based exports contributed only six percent.In terms of most exported merchandise categories, food and live animals used for food were the main primary goods. Among the manufactured goods, automatic data processing machines, integrated circuits, clothing, textiles, and smartphones were the categories with the highest export value in China in 2024.

In 2018, the European Union imported 26.8 billion euros worth of clothing from China, the EU’s leading import partner in this category. The EU itself is an important supplier of clothing items to the rest of the world, Italy providing the greatest export value. Altogether, clothing exports from EU countries reached 129 billion euros in 2017.

China: global textile supplier
Not surprisingly, the EU’s main source of clothing is also a global force when it comes to supplying textiles. China currently holds a 37 percent share of the world’s textile exports, while the EU itself is responsible for a quarter of textile products shipped to the rest of the world.

EU’s textile and clothing businesses

In 2018, the EU’s textile and clothing manufacturers generated the highest revenue in the textile segment at 91.4 billion euros, although turnover from clothing manufacturers did not differ greatly from that either.

In 2023, the EU machinery and transport equipment exports to China amounted to about 114.4 billion euros, making it the most exported commodity from the EU to China. In the same year, the 27 EU countries exported approximately 10.7 billion euro-worth of food and live animals to China.

As of October 2021, the European Union (EU) was the main trade partner of Africa. Around 23 percent of the total trade from and to the continent involved the European countries in that year. Moreover, 22 percent of the trade involved China, while six percent was from and to India.

In 2024, China's merchandise trade surplus amounted to around 992.2 billion U.S. dollars, significantly higher than in the previous year. The merchandise trade balance is the value of exported goods minus the value of imported goods. A positive value indicates a trade surplus, while a negative value indicates a trade deficit. Trade balance and partnersIn 2024, Chinese imports of goods amounted to approximately 2.59 trillion U.S. dollars, whereas total exports added up to about 3.58 trillion U.S. dollars. In contrast, China’s invisible trade balance, an indicator measuring services and government transfers between countries, closed with a deficit and ranged at about -92 billion U.S. dollars at the end of 2022. Being an economy heavily reliant on export, China ranked first among countries with the highest trade surplus, followed by Germany and Russia. The United States, with imports exceeding exports by approximately 1.15 trillion U.S. dollars that year, ranked first among leading import countries worldwide. In 2023, the value of the U.S. imports from China exceeded the exports to China by around 279.4 billion U.S. dollars. Another important trade partner for China is the European Union. In 2023, the EU imported around 514 billion euro-worth of goods from China, leading to a trade deficit of around 291 billion euros. Product categories with the highest trade deficit were mostly finished goods such as machinery and transport equipment, clothing, and other manufactures, whereas product categories with a more balanced trade sheet consisted of raw materials and agricultural products to a large extent.

In 2024, the ASEAN was the largest export destination for China. The value of China's exports to the ASEAN member states exceeded 4.17 trillion yuan, increasing slightly from the previous year.

Globally, China and Turkey were the two main suppliers of textile for the European Union (EU) in 2018. The EU imported textile products worth of 10.5 million euros from China, whereas Turkey’s textile export to the EU was worth 4.8 million euros that year. For China, textiles are the second main goods category that the country exports to the rest of the world.

China’s global lead in textile

China’s status as a leading textile importer is not limited to the bounds of the EU. Having exported 119 billion U.S. dollars worth of textile globally, China now stands at the very top, ahead of the EU, India and the United States. In the past decade, there has been a notable increase in China’s share of the global export of textiles and currently China provides 40 percent of global textile exports.

EU textile production and export

The EU itself is another important textile supplier, with the value of textile products exported from EU28 countries amounting to 74 billion U.S. dollars. The manufacture of textiles in the EU is an industry where businesses show increasing turnover year-over-year, textile and clothing being the two main sectors.

In 2023, Germany did the most trade with China, almost 254.5 billion euros worth. The USA and the Netherlands followed in second and third place. The value of trade with the listed countries refers to both imports and exports.

In 2024, the total value of Chinese merchandise imports and exports amounted to about 43.8 trillion yuan. This indicated approximately five percent growth compared to the previous year. China’s international trade relations In 2012, China surpassed the United States to become to the world’s largest trading country in terms of exports and imports of goods. While the United States remained the largest import nation with an import value of around 3.17 trillion U.S. dollars in 2023, China ranked first in global exports with an export value of some 3.38 trillion U.S. dollars in 2023.According to the National Bureau of Statistics of China, in 2023, the United States was the second most significant export partner of China with a share in total exports of about 14.7 percent. China is also one of the United States’ most potential markets for exports. As of 2024, exports from the United States to China had expanded more than seven-fold since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001. The European Union was the third most important export partner of China as of 2024, after ASEAN and the United States. Exports to the EU are dominated by industrial and consumer goods such as machinery and equipment, as well as footwear and clothing. Chinese imports from the EU are mainly machinery and transport equipment, chemical products and miscellaneous manufactured articles. Hong Kong plays a unique role in intermediating and facilitating trade between China and the rest of the world. Mainland Chinese companies sell goods to Hong Kong which re-exports them at marked up prices. Majority of exports from Hong Kong are re-exports.

In 2024, China exported approximately 3.58 trillion U.S. dollars worth of goods. This indicated an increase in export value of about 5.9 percent compared to the previous year. Export of goods from ChinaChina’s exports have been growing steadily over the past decade, with the exception of 2009 when financial crisis and global economic downturn slowed down global trade and 2016 witnessing another decrease in global demand. Apart from being the most populous country, China has also become the largest manufacturing economy and the largest exporter in the world. ASEAN, European Union, and United States were China's leading export partners in 2023. Machinery such as computers, broadcasting technology, and telephones as well as transport equipment make up the largest part of Chinese exports. This category amounted to approximately 1.65 trillion U.S. dollars in export value in 2023. When it comes to primary goods, food and live animals used for food are the main export products.

In December 2024, the total value of imports to China amounted to around 230.8 billion U.S. dollars. This indicated a slight increase in import value compared to the same period of the previous year. Import trade partners As of 2022, China was the world’s second-largest importer of merchandise goods, representing 10.6 percent of worldwide imports. Over the last decade, the value of imports to China has increased significantly.In 2023, ASEAN and the European Union were China’s most important import trade partners, with an import value of about 2.73 trillion yuan and 1.98 trillion yuan respectively. About 86 percent of China’s imports from the European Union were manufactured goods; the main import commodities to China were machinery and transport equipment. Trade balance With a merchandise trade surplus of more than 823 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, China is still the nation with the highest trade surplus worldwide. Despite the pandemic, China exported nearly 3.38 trillion U.S. dollar-worth of goods in 2023, setting another record in history. Nevertheless, a rising number of economists have estimated a downturn in China's economic development recently.