China's exports rose by 19.4 percent in May from a year earlier, accelerating from April's already impressive 14.1 percent growth. Imports grew even faster, jumping 27.4 percent after April's 25.3 percent increase. Total trade expanded by 16.9 percent in yuan terms, pushing monthly trade above 4 trillion yuan ($587 billion) for the third consecutive month and bringing the cumulative trade growth for the first five months of the year to 15.3 percent.

Some Western critics have portrayed China as an economy dependent on "dumping overcapacity" with low value added. The data point to a different reality. The composition of the growth is even more notable than the quantity.

The strongest momentum is increasingly concentrated in technology-intensive sectors, including integrated circuits, advanced manufacturing equipment, electric vehicles and artificial intelligence-related products. Semiconductor exports reportedly surged by more than 100 percent year-on-year, while high-tech exports continued to outperform overall trade growth.

This is not merely a story about China exporting more goods. It is a story about China moving higher up the value chain at a time when much of the developed world is struggling to do the same.

Over the past several years, a conventional narrative has prevailed in some Western countries — that tariffs, export controls and "de-risking" would gradually diminish China's position in global supply chains while strengthening their own. However, reality has not borne this out.

Instead of being contained, China's manufacturers have adapted. Faced with external pressure, they have accelerated technological upgrading. Export growth is increasingly being driven by sectors linked to digitalization, electrification and AI.

The strong trade performance was registered amid global turbulence. The conflict in the Middle East has disrupted energy markets, raised transportation costs, and increased uncertainty across the global economy. Yet, thanks to its increasingly diversified trade portfolios, China's trade has not only remained resilient but also accelerated.

Part of the explanation lies in a phenomenon visible far beyond China. Around the world, demand for AI infrastructure, semiconductors, data centers, power equipment and green technologies is surging. Exports of economies, such as the Republic of Korea, driven by AI-related demand, soared in May. China is not operating outside this trend; rather, it is both a major contributor and a principal beneficiary, owing to its key position in global supply chains, particularly in high-tech sectors.

The "China Shock 2.0" peddled by some China-bashers in the West simply does not hold water. What truly drives global trade is the robust demand for China's performance-cost advantaged exports — not the exports of "overcapacity" as they claim.

The increase in both China's exports and imports with developed and developing economies in recent months demonstrates the win-win nature of China's trade with its trading partners, belying "decoupling" or "trade imbalance" claims.

Compared with other major economies, what makes China distinctive is its efficiency, innovation and scale. Few economies possess the combination of manufacturing depth, engineering talent, logistics capacity and industrial ecosystems needed to meet rapidly growing global demand in advanced sectors. Whether one is discussing batteries, electric vehicles, solar technologies, industrial machinery or increasingly sophisticated semiconductors, China has built production networks that are difficult to replicate quickly elsewhere.

It is an exercise in absurdity for certain Western armchair strategists to assume that political coercion will enable some developed countries to restructure global supply chains in accordance with the personal preferences of select politicians.

Notably, China's imports growing faster than exports challenges the caricature of China as simply "an export machine". Strong import growth suggests robust demand for components, raw materials, machinery and intermediate goods needed to support the country's industrial upgrading. It also reflects the deepening integration of China within global manufacturing networks.

None of this means China is immune to challenges. The huge potential of domestic consumption remains untapped. Geopolitical risks are unlikely to disappear. Trade frictions with major economies are likely to continue. But the long-term trade data of China have a habit of revealing how the world's second-largest economy has made the most of what it has to keep its economy and trade developing on the right track. By doing its own things well, China is contributing to the common good of the world.