There were small declines in trade between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries in June, according to data from China’s General Administration of Customs shared by Forum Macao.
Total goods traded in June between China and the lusophone world amounted to US$19.92 billion, a drop of 1.35 percent compared to the same month in 2024. Chinese imports from the bloc remained relatively steady compared to the previous year, dipping just 0.27 percent. Sales of Chinese goods to Portuguese-speaking countries dropped more, decreasing 3.07 percent from June 2024 to US$7.54 billion.
While lusophone countries saw the best performance in May, when sales to China increased 9.63 percent, June marks the only other month this year that the bloc did not suffer double-digit drops. June sales of Chinese goods fell more in the middle of the range, with the month neither China’s best nor worst for the first half of 2025.
[See more: Sino-Lusophone trade shows modest growth in 2024]
Total trade for January to June fell 9.3 percent to US$102.03 billion, weighed down by declining sales to China during the period. Lusophone nations sold goods worth US$59.92 billion to China in the first six months, down 15.24 percent year-on-year. Chinese exports, meanwhile, largely evened out for the period, increasing just 0.76 percent compared to the same period last year to US$42.12 billion.
Brazil remains China’s largest trade partner in the lusophone bloc, with US$83.28 billion in total trade, despite declines on both sides. Angola took second place with total trade of US$10.65 billion, a modest increase of 0.2 percent over the first six months of 2024, the product of a 71.5-percent increase in Chinese exports. Portugal rounds out the top three for the January to June period, with total trade amounting to US$4.68 billion, up 2.2 percent even as sales to China fell 6.2 percent.
Only two countries in the bloc saw exports to China increase in the January to June period: São Tomé and Príncipe, and Mozambique. The latter is China’s fourth-largest trade partner in the bloc, and it increased sales to China by 27.8 percent in the first six months, totalling US$921.52 million. Purchases of Chinese goods increased 1.4 percent, for a total of US$2.61 billion in trade for the period.
