In 2025, after US President Trump (Donald Trump) imposed tariffs, Chinese orders decreased by one third. Aimee Chen, a sales representative from China, said it was the toughest year in her nearly twenty-year career.
According to a report by Reuters on January 19, although official Chinese data shows export growth in 2025 and a trade surplus of nearly $1.2 trillion, interviews with 14 frontline salespeople working on diversifying Chinese exports revealed the cost and risks behind the trade data.
Aimee Chen, one of the interviewed salespeople, mentioned that her pet supplies company started exploring new markets in South America to cope with the situation, but these markets typically have lower incomes.
Four other salespeople noted that orders from new markets were usually smaller, with lower profits compared to the US market, leading to reduced commission and income. Government data shows that in November, Chinese industrial enterprise profits dropped by 13.1% year-on-year, the largest decline in over a year.
Many salespeople also mentioned longer working hours, increased work intensity, and greater uncertainty.
“I’m very anxious,” said Ms. Chen, who has recently experienced symptoms of stress such as hair loss and insomnia.
Mingwei Liu, director of the Global Labor and Employment Research Center at Rutgers University, stated that China’s export strategy in non-traditional markets relies on companies pursuing large volumes of low-priced orders. He said successful companies often extend customer payment periods and take on higher default risks.
“This market repositioning has intensified the labor intensity, mental burden, and income uncertainty of export salespeople,” Liu said.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Human Resources, and the State Council Information Office did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comments.
Since joining the World Trade Organization in 2001, the US market has provided significant assistance to China’s export economy. Some US retailers and Chinese manufacturers have mentioned establishing close relationships between the two countries.
Ms. Chen highly praised her past collaborations with US retailers. She said customers from the world’s largest economy are usually “easygoing” and can quickly close deals.
In contrast, she mentioned that customers in emerging markets prefer to haggle.
Although the US remains China’s main export destination, exports to the US are expected to drop by 20% in 2025. Last year, exports to Africa grew by 25.8%, Latin America by 7.4%, Southeast Asia by 13.4%, and the EU by 8.4%.
Since Trump took office as US President in early 2025, tensions in US-China trade have escalated sharply. In April of this year, Trump raised tariffs on China to over 100%, partially reversing them afterward, and currently, a fragile ceasefire agreement exists between the US and China.
Tariffs have led China’s export-oriented industrial system to engage in fierce market competition globally.
Monica Chen has been selling automotive spare parts in eastern Zhejiang Province for over ten years and has relied on emails to conduct business. However, with the implementation of US tariffs, she has had to work harder to attract customers. This means she has to travel up to three times a month and proactively call potential clients.
“Exploring new markets is very difficult, as they are basically saturated,” Monica said. She is not related to Aimee Chen.
The response her company eventually took was to lower prices to compete against other Chinese companies also seeking buyers abroad.
With declining profits, companies are putting pressure on sales agents.
24-year-old Lisa Lu has been selling electric bicycle batteries in Shenzhen since 2022, earning about 5,000 yuan per month (about $717), which is similar to the income of factory workers producing such batteries.
However, Lisa mentioned that while workers have finished for the day, she has to keep communicating with foreign customers.
Her fellow sales representative Wang Luowen at an agricultural machinery export company in eastern China summarized the job requirements as, “As long as you’re alive, you have to respond (to customers).”
Several salespeople also described how they deal with customers with lower financial capabilities in markets they are less familiar with.
Lisa mentioned communicating with a customer for months about various matters, from news events to lunch choices to religious beliefs. In the end, the customer only ordered one battery, and Lisa’s commission was less than $2.
An analysis of the top 100 “likes” on RedNote social media platform over six months until mid-January found that 37 posts complained about increasing work pressure, with another 6 posts mentioning unprofessional customer interactions.
“Sometimes, it can be mentally draining,” Lisa said, mentioning she even received a marriage proposal.
Economists have long believed that for China to end its deflation cycle, it needs to develop the domestic market. Senior researcher Chen Bo from the East Asia Institute at the National University of Singapore stated that weak consumption forces Chinese manufacturers to compete overseas, often against each other, bringing income to the economy but eroding profits.
The scholar pointed out that China “cannot rely on overseas markets to sustain sustainable economic growth.”
On April 23, 2025, US Treasury Secretary Bassett, speaking at an International Institute of Finance (IIF) event in Washington, D.C., stated that China’s current economic model is unsustainable.
Bassett said, “China, in particular, needs to rebalance. Recent data shows that the Chinese economy is further shifting from consumption to manufacturing. If the status quo continues, China’s economic system driven by manufacturing exports will continue to have more severe imbalances with its trading partners.”
“China’s current economic model is based on escaping economic challenges through exports. This is an unsustainable model that harms not only China but the entire world,” he said.