What is moving in Chinese factories, ports and trade rules, and what it means for your next order. Written by our team in Dongguan.
The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index edged up for a fourth straight week, with US routes slightly cheaper and Europe and the Mediterranean more expensive. A possible strike at Los Angeles and Long Beach was postponed.
China's official manufacturing PMI dropped 0.8 points to 49.3 in October 2026, but high-tech and equipment makers kept expanding. Input and factory-gate prices are still rising, only more slowly.
China's trade promotion council issued 6.60 million certificates of origin and other trade documents in the first nine months of 2026, 7.29 % more than a year earlier. Its first electronic commercial certificate is due in November.
A Chinese car plant in Mexico solved its power supply with 18.2 MWp of solar panels and 10 MWh of batteries, built in 10 months, according to El Financiero. The case was presented at Huawei's installer summit in Dongguan.
Drewry's WCI fell 3 % to USD 4,429 per 40-foot container, led by a 6 % drop on Shanghai–Los Angeles. At the same time, port watchmen in Los Angeles and Long Beach authorized a strike.
China will require export licenses from November 18 for certain long-endurance or long-range drones and their key parts, and has opened a consultation on adding 40 AI, biomedical and photovoltaic technologies to its restricted list.
Container ship on-time performance improved for the first time in four months, to 50.6 % in September 2026, according to Sea-Intelligence. Still, one ship in two arrived off schedule, and Asian ports are under the most pressure.
Industrial robot production in China rose 29.1 % in the first nine months of 2026, and Chinese brands now hold 55 % of their home market. Brazil's installations jumped 38 % in 2025 while Mexico's fell for a third year.
The 9th China International Import Expo (CIIE) opens in Shanghai on November 5 with 4,142 foreign exhibitors and more than 440,000 square meters. It is the fair where China is the buyer.
