Selling to China: Why global trade must look beyond exports

Tianlu Zhu, a host and journalist with CGTN

When the world talks about China's role in global trade, the focus often falls on what China sells to the rest of the world. Yet another question deserves equal attention: what can the world sell to China?

For businesses across the globe, China is more than a manufacturing powerhouse or an export competitor. It is also one of the world's largest import markets, offering opportunities for suppliers in economies with very different industrial strengths and levels of development. From agricultural products and consumer goods to advanced technologies, Chinese demand can provide overseas businesses with new avenues for growth.

But a large market does not guarantee broad-based benefits. The real challenge is turning potential demand into actual trade — enabling businesses to identify what Chinese consumers and industries need, meet market requirements and build lasting commercial relationships.

This distinction matters. If global trade is to generate wider benefits, the question is not simply how much a country exports or imports, but how effectively markets connect the needs of buyers with the strengths of suppliers.

China's import market offers a significant starting point. According to China’s General Administration of Customs (GACC), the country's imports of goods in 2025 reached a record 18.48 trillion yuan, or approximately 2.58 trillion US dollars, maintaining its position as the world's second-largest import market—after the United States—for the 17th consecutive year. The scale alone makes China an important destination for overseas suppliers seeking new customers and opportunities for growth.

Yet the figures also reveal a more complicated picture. The same data from GACC showed that China's exports reached 26.99 trillion yuan in 2025, up 6.1 percent year on year, while imports grew by just 0.5 percent. The country's goods trade surplus stood at approximately 8.51 trillion yuan, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. These figures help explain why China's trade relationship with the rest of the world attracts such close attention. Expanding imports and creating more opportunities for overseas suppliers are therefore relevant not only to individual businesses, but also to the broader discussion about the balance of global trade.

The question is how to make those opportunities more tangible.

The ninth China International Import Expo (CIIE), scheduled for November 5–10 in Shanghai, provides one platform for exploring that question. By bringing overseas suppliers together with Chinese buyers and industry representatives, the expo creates opportunities to identify potential partners, understand market demand and explore commercial cooperation. But the significance of such a platform should not be measured by the number of products on display alone. What matters is whether initial interest can develop into actual sales and sustainable business relationships.

This year's planned release of the Report on Export Capacity to China alongside the World Openness Report at the Hongqiao International Economic Forum offers another perspective. According to Vice Minister of Commerce Yan Dong, the new report examines China's market opportunities from the standpoint of its trading partners, asking not only what China can buy, but also what other economies can sell and how they can sell more effectively.

This is a useful shift in perspective. Rather than treating China's import demand as an abstract figure, it directs attention to the different capabilities of individual economies and the practical steps needed to connect them with Chinese buyers.

The opportunities will vary considerably. Some countries have competitive agricultural products or distinctive consumer brands; others have strengths in advanced equipment, industrial components or healthcare technologies. But possessing a competitive product is only the beginning. Exporters must also understand local preferences, meet applicable standards, establish distribution networks and compete on price, quality and service.

For smaller businesses and developing economies, these requirements can be particularly demanding. Limited access to market information, financing and established commercial networks can prevent promising products from reaching potential customers. Better information, more effective trade facilitation and stronger links between suppliers and buyers can help address these barriers. Such support is valuable not because every product should enter every market, but because businesses need a realistic opportunity to compete.

The broader global context makes this issue increasingly relevant. In its October 2026 outlook, the World Trade Organization raised its forecast for global merchandise trade volume growth to 3.9 percent, from 1.9 percent in March. Strong demand for goods used in artificial intelligence infrastructure helped drive the revision, while geopolitical conflict and disruptions to energy and transport markets continued to create risks. The uneven distribution of trade opportunities underlines the importance of helping businesses adapt to changing demand and diversify their markets.

None of this means that expanding imports alone can resolve global trade imbalances. Trade patterns are shaped by many factors, including domestic demand, industrial competitiveness, exchange rates and differences in economic structures. Nor does a large market guarantee that every trading partner will benefit equally. The more meaningful question is whether market opportunities can translate into mutually beneficial and commercially sustainable outcomes.

For China, a stronger connection between domestic demand and overseas supply can offer consumers and businesses a wider range of products and technologies. For its trading partners, access to Chinese buyers can support exports, business expansion and employment. Realising these potential benefits requires effort on both sides: overseas suppliers must offer products that meet market needs, while market access and commercial cooperation must provide viable pathways for those products to reach customers.

Ultimately, global trade should be understood as more than a contest over export figures and market share. Countries compete, but they also have different strengths and needs that can complement one another. A country's importance in the trading system should be assessed not only by what it sells to the world, but also by the opportunities its market creates for others.

China's role in global trade will continue to be debated. Looking beyond its exports to examine its demand for imports can help make that debate more complete. The challenge is not simply to open a large market, but to build stronger connections between that market and the businesses around the world capable of serving it. When market demand and overseas supply are matched more effectively, the gains from trade have greater potential to reach beyond individual transactions and contribute to broader economic development.

-- Tianlu Zhu is a host and commentator at CGTN Radio, focusing on global economic trends