China's Economy Just Did What No Economy Has Done

China just registered an unprecedented economic milestone: Its trade surplus has risen above $1 trillion—a first for any country, reports the Wall Street Journal. New data from China's customs agency shows exports rose 5.4% to $3.4 trillion in the first 11 months of the year, while imports fell slightly to $2.3 trillion. That's good for a surplus of $1.08 trillion, the largest ever recorded anywhere and a sign of China's growing dominance in trade across a vast range of products.

"It is so big that it's obvious that it's not just the United States or Europe but the whole world that will have to fund that gap," says Jens Eskelund, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China. The milestone comes despite a trade war with the Trump administration that has resulted in high US tariffs—currently averaging 37%—on Chinese imports. But Beijing has compensated in part by shifting focus to markets in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America on everything from consumer electronics to automobiles, per the New York Times. It's also cut back on its imports of American soybeans and other products.

"China continues to rely less on selling stuff to the US," wrote Peter Boockvar of One Point BFG Wealth Partners, per CNBC. "China has a massive pool of domestic savings, and China will again try to encourage consumers to unleash more of it to lessen their dependency on manufacturing and exports." The surplus is becoming a major point of tension globally, not just in the US, with officials in Europe warning of potential trade barriers if the imbalance continues. "Concern is growing," says Eskelund. "(We may) get to a point where things snap."