China's trade surplus surges to record $676.4B in 2021

[FairAndUnbiased]

Supply chains don't move easily and China is still very competitive in manufacturing. All these factors are just leading to record exports for China.

exactly, supply chains are actually extremely immobile. East Asia has been a manufacturing powerhouse since the end of WW2, first Japan, then South Korea, then China. The reason is not due to cheap labor: 1. Japan and South Korea have retained their manufacturing, and indeed, South Korea has the exact same %share of manufacturing in GDP as China does 2. over 70% of the global population is poorer than China yet why don't they have the manufacturing?

the reason is due to East Asian countries having strong industrial policy, practical engineering and R&D capability, and equitable meritocracy (as opposed to the brutal social Darwinism of the Nazis and those who inspired the Nazis) to fully unlock the potential of everyone in society rather than only the elite.