Analysts said China<\/a>\u2019s manufacturers would be able to make up in other markets at least some of the sales lost because of US tariffs, helping to ensure exports remain a pillar of a national economy still struggling with a property sector downturn<\/a> and weak consumer confidence<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cConsumption is weak and there\u2019s less driving the economy on that front,\u201d said Leah Fahy, China economist at Capital Economics. \u201cChina\u2019s still going to have to export all this stuff, so it\u2019s going to have to go to other countries and they\u2019re going to face a surge in Chinese imports.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Manufacturers\u2019 efforts are on display in Zhejiang, China\u2019s second-biggest exporting province, where many factory owners are urgently shifting focus towards trading partners that look more stable than the US, or to the large but fiercely contested domestic market.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to find new customers in markets like Europe,\u201d said Xia Shukun, a manager at Shaoxing Sulong Outdoor Technology, which until now has only exported to Asia and the US.<\/p>\n Xia said a Norwegian buyer had recently toured their factory, where the screech of blades slicing metal for camp stoves reverberates across three floors, raising hopes the company might win its first customer in Europe. \u201cWe\u2019re very eager \u2014 we can make anything,\u201d Xia said.<\/p>\n With average US tariff rates on Chinese goods still above 50 per cent, and the possibility Trump will reimpose sky-high rates that would make most trade unviable, factory owners and managers up and down the Zhejiang coast said they were looking for new markets.<\/p>\n Chen Zebin, whose family runs nail lamp manufacturer Shaoxing Shangyu Lihua Electronic Technology, said the proportion of its output going to the US had fallen to about 30 per cent this year from 60 per cent in 2024, prompting it to shift to more domestic sales, where margins are thinner. <\/p>\n Chen said orders from the US were slow despite a trade war truce between Washington and Beijing<\/a>. \u201cThat road isn\u2019t working so we need to find a new one,\u201d he said, adding the company was exploring online sales channels, such as Temu, and seeking customers<\/a> in new markets, including the Middle East and Europe.<\/p>\n Doris Xia, a manager at Zhejiang-based Kimo said the power tool manufacturer was prioritising expansion in Europe, Russia and south-east Asia after getting a cool reception at a trade show in Las Vegas event in March, when Trump had only imposed an extra 20 per cent tariff. <\/p>\n \u201cBasically no customers came over to us,\u201d Xia said.<\/p>\n After the US, the top destination of Chinese exports by value last year was the EU, followed by Vietnam \u2014 where many goods are processed for re-export \u2014 Japan and South Korea. <\/p>\n The European Commission is trying to track and counter any surges of Chinese imports. Its first surveillance report found sudden increases in imports of products ranging from guitars to industrial robots, with China indicated as the biggest source of the surges.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are seeing a new \u2018China shock\u2019,\u201d said commission president Ursula von der Leyen at the G7 gathering in Canada this month. \u201cAs China\u2019s economy slows down, Beijing floods global markets with subsidised overcapacity that its own market cannot absorb.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
![\"Production](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/https:\/\/d1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net\/production\/414b4a42-f44d-4aaa-a5ae-c7eba5a4b338.jpg\")
A production line at Shaoxing Shangyu Lihua Electronic Technology \u00a9 Chen Zebin<\/p>\n