China wants to bring its trade ties with the U.S. back to a stable footing, its commerce minister said, adding that recent talks in Europe showed there was no need for a tariff war while urging the U.

How, then, to explain the resilience of China’s exports in the turmoil of the global trade war? Some companies have been “front-loading”, or shipping extra goods to America, on fears that the truce will not hold and levies will increase further later.

As chaotic tariff negotiations disrupt global supply chains and make planning more difficult, manufacturers in China are racing to adapt.