China offered extra items to the world than ever in 2025, however export saleswoman Aimee Chen says it was the toughest of her roughly two-decade profession.
After US President Donald Trump’s tariff hikes led to US orders plunging by a 3rd, Chen’s pet merchandise firm moved to diversify geographies, chasing new and sometimes lower-income markets like South America. The response mirrored China’s official commerce coverage, which led to a record US$1.2 trillion surplus for 2025 regardless of new commerce obstacles.
Reuters interviews with 14 salespeople engaged on the frontlines of China’s export diversification push, nonetheless, reveal the prices and caveats behind the rosy headline commerce figures.
4 of the salespeople mentioned that orders from the brand new markets have been typically smaller in quantity and fewer profitable than US gross sales, leading to decrease commissions and pay. Authorities knowledge present income at China’s industrial firms fell 13.1 per cent year-on-year in November, the quickest tempo in over a 12 months.
Lots of the staff additionally described longer working hours in addition to larger depth and uncertainty amid the export growth.
“I am very anxious,” mentioned Chen, including that she had just lately skilled stress signs like hair loss and insomnia.
Mingwei Liu, director on the Middle for World Work and Employment at Rutgers College, mentioned that China’s export technique in various markets relied on companies chasing excessive volumes of low-cost orders. Firms that succeed typically give purchasers longer fee cycles and bear greater default dangers, he mentioned.
“This market reorientation will increase the labour depth, the emotional burden and revenue uncertainty confronted by staff in export gross sales,” Liu mentioned.
China’s commerce ministry and human assets ministry, in addition to the workplace which manages the cupboard’s media queries, didn’t reply to requests for remark.
NEW MARKETS, NEW PROBLEMS
China and the US have grown more and more interconnected since Beijing’s 2001 accession to the World Commerce Group. Their relationship has additionally turn out to be extra imbalanced, with their respective financial insurance policies favouring manufacturing within the former nation and consumption within the latter.
Some American retailers and Chinese language producers have mentioned they developed relationships that have been so shut that they may anticipate one another’s wants and pink strains, making offers really feel virtually computerized.
Chen, as an example, described her previous interactions with US retailers in largely glowing phrases. Shoppers on the earth’s largest economic system have been typically “easy-going” and signed offers shortly, she mentioned.
Against this, prospects in new markets wish to haggle on value, she mentioned.
