Chinese exports to the Portuguese-speaking countries are on track to match the record, even as major lusophone trade partners see their own exports to China shrink, according to Forum Macao.
Chinese exports to the lusophone bloc totalled US$72.57 billion for the first 10 months of 2025, a 0.9-percent increase over the same period in 2024, a year that saw a record US$85.5 billion in sales. According to China Customs data, Angola fuelled the rise, increasing purchases from China by over 51 percent year-on-year to US$4.04 billion.
Exports to Brazil, by far China’s largest trade partner in the bloc, dropped 2.9 percent compared to the same period last year to US$59 billion. Portugal increased purchases from China by 14.8 percent to US$5.88 billion, making it the second-largest buyer while Angola took the third spot.
São Tomé and Príncipe saw the largest increase in Chinese goods for the period, up 113.1 percent to US$35.71 million, followed by Angola, Timor-Leste (15.8%), Portugal and Mozambique (7.6%).
[See more: Reassessing China’s US$1.6 billion trade with the Global South]
Exports from the Portuguese-speaking countries, meanwhile, totalled US$112.21 billion for the first 10 months, a 5.9-percent drop from the same period last year. It marks the lowest value for the period since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
Exports to China fell across the top five suppliers in the bloc, though a 4.9-percent decrease in Brazilian exports, down to US$94.95 billion, drove the trend.
China also bought fewer exports from Angola (-12.8%), Portugal (-7.6%), Mozambique (-8.0%) and Equatorial Guinea (-28.5%), as well as tiny Cabo Verde (-37%). Timor-Leste increased sales to China by 4,142.9 percent, soaring from just US$632,000 for the period in 2024 to US$26.83 million.
China continues to record a trade deficit with the bloc, totalling US$39.6 billion for the January to October period. Total trade amounted to US$184.79 billion, a 3.4-percent drop from the same period last year.
