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(Bloomberg) — Chinese Premier Li Qiang has responded to growing calls from trading partners to address a rising trade surplus, with China’s exports continuing to surge in the first two months of the year.

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“We take our trading partners’ concerns seriously and we are ready to work with all parties to promote the sound and balanced development of trade,” the premier said in a keynote speech at the China Development Forum in Beijing on Sunday.

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“We will also further widen market access for the services sector and increase imports of medical and healthcare products, digital technologies and low carbon services to provide more business opportunities for foreign companies.”

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The comments come as the Iran War increases risks for China’s economy, which started the year with a surprising uptick in domestic consumption and investment. In recent weeks, the conflict in the Middle East has upended energy markets and disrupted trade.

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Higher fuel and raw material costs could further squeeze profit margins for manufacturers already under pressure from cutthroat competition.

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China has made progress in curbing so‑called involution‑style competition, Li said. 

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The Iran war and its effects complicate China’s economic outlook for a year in which it has already set its most modest growth target since 1991. While exports were robust before the fighting in the Middle East started, Beijing has struggled to coax more spending out of ordinary households.

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China appears to be taking steps to fortify the economy, with government spending off to its fastest start to any year since 2022. A broad measure of public expenditure climbed 6% in the January-February period this year from 2025, according to Bloomberg calculations based on Ministry of Finance data released Thursday.

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