Shanghai Trade With ASEAN Tops EU for the First Time

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations became Shanghai’s largest trading partner for the first time in May after the city’s trade with the regional bloc narrowly surpassed that with the European Union, underscoring the continued shift in China’s trade toward Southeast Asia.

Data released today by Shanghai Customs showed the city’s total imports and exports with ASEAN reached CNY70.1 billion (USD9.7 billion) in May, edging above the CNY69.6 billion recorded with the EU during the same period.

Trade with ASEAN jumped 26 percent from a year earlier in May, far outpacing the 3 percent increase in trade with the EU. Trade between Shanghai and Vietnam, an ASEAN member, more than doubled from a year ago.

As the leading economic hub in the Yangtze River Delta, Shanghai’s changing trade partner rankings reflect the broader diversification of China’s foreign trade. ASEAN has been China’s largest goods trading partner since 2020.

The milestone reflects years of steadily strengthening trade ties between Shanghai and ASEAN, driven by deeper regional economic integration, supply chain realignment, and faster trade growth than with the EU.

The EU had long been Shanghai’s largest trading partner. In 2014, Shanghai’s trade with the EU totaled CNY637.9 billion, compared with CNY330.4 billion with ASEAN, which ranked behind the EU, the United States, and Japan. By 2020, the gap between Shanghai’s trade with the EU and ASEAN still exceeded CNY210 billion, although ASEAN had already become the city’s second-largest trading partner a year earlier.

Over the past five years, ASEAN’s role in Shanghai’s foreign trade has continued to expand, supported by the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership , upgrades to the ASEAN–China Free Trade Area, and global supply chain restructuring amid China-US trade tensions.