China-SCO trade hits $523.5b in 2025

Summary

Trade between China and other Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states reached $523.5 billion in 2025, a sharp rise from $12.1 billion in 2001 and equivalent to 8 percent of China's total foreign trade, the Ministry of Commerce said on August 27. Spokesperson Huang Ling also reported that China's direct investment in SCO member states totalled $3.3 billion,

with over 30 economic and trade cooperation zones established. Between January and July 2026, the China-Europe Railway Express ran 13, 000 trips,

up 17.6 percent year on year.

Commentary

A more than 40-fold increase in SCO trade over 25 years and a 17.6 percent annual rise in China-Europe Railway Express traffic point to a growing shift in China's trade focus towards the Eurasian hinterland. For New Zealand SMEs, this carries both substitution risk and channel opportunity. On the downside, agricultural exports from Russia and Central Asia to China are accelerating, potentially intensifying price competition in the mid-to-low-end dairy and meat segments.

While New Zealand enjoys tariff advantages, greater diversification in China's import sources could dilute its bargaining power. On the upside, China's expanding inland logistics hubs offer New Zealand's premium dairy and honey producers a chance to tap into the China-Europe Railway Express via Shanghai or Ningbo ports, providing a lower-cost alternative to air freight for testing Central Asian and Caucasus markets. Fonterra and other leaders already operate localised supply chains in China.

SMEs could build on the NZ-China FTA's zero-tariff provisions and use the rail link as a second export route to the SCO hinterland, rather than relying solely on conventional sea freight.

Keywords: Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), trade volume, Ministry of Commerce, Huang Ling, China-Europe Railway Express, direct investment, economic and trade cooperation zones, $523.5 billion

Source: China.org.cn