China’s Exports Surge on AI Boom as Beijing Unveils $295bn Tech Drive

China’s export machine defied expectations in May, growing 19.4 per cent year-on-year in dollar terms – far above the 15 per cent analysts had pencilled in. The surge was powered by voracious global demand for semiconductors, data processors and electric vehicles that underpin the artificial intelligence revolution. Viewed from Beijing, the trade data offered a buffer against energy price shocks and supply chain disruptions from the Middle East conflict, as businesses from Silicon Valley to Stuttgart raced to secure AI components.

Behind the headline figures lies a sweeping industrial policy push. Chinese authorities are finalising a five-year, 295-billion-dollar plan to build a national network of interconnected data centres, first reported by Bloomberg and confirmed by Italian and Brazilian outlets. State telecoms giants such as China Mobile and China Telecom will run much of the infrastructure, with a strong preference for domestically produced chips from firms like Huawei. European analysts see this not as mere spending but as a strategic fusion of computing power, communications and eventually the electricity grid into a platform for AI across healthcare, transport and public services.

That ambition extends to the two resources AI craves most: energy and data. Chinese nuclear reactor construction now accounts for nearly half the global total; Gavekal Technologies projects China will match US operational nuclear capacity within five years, targeting 110 gigawatts by 2030 – a build-out tied directly to AI’s electricity hunger. Simultaneously, the National Data Administration unveiled a draft roadmap to massively expand high-quality, industry-specific training datasets, anchoring the ‘AI Plus’ strategy to weave AI into the economy’s industrial fabric.

The export surge redraws trade maps. Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore recorded a record 376.78 billion dollars of May shipments, with strong rebounds to the United States, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan – all hungry for advanced electronics. From Moscow, Russian outlets highlight that bilateral trade with China jumped nearly 23 per cent in the first five months of 2026, reversing a decline. Yet inventory-watchers in London and New York caution that the current stockpiling could be fleeting: if energy prices stabilise, buyers may rapidly run down inventories, exposing China’s hi-tech export engine to a sharp correction.

The twin narratives of resilient exports and state-driven AI infrastructure place China at the centre of a new technology contest. As Washington struggles with chip restrictions and Europe frets over digital sovereignty, Beijing is building the physical and data backbone of an AI-permeated economy. Whether that bet can outlast a possible inventory hangover remains uncertain, but for now China is using every lever – from export credits to nuclear reactors – to ride the AI wave and reshape its global economic standing.