The Global Opportunities Presented by China’s Development

China’s Economy Maintains Solid Development Momentum, Serving as a Crucial Engine of Global Growth.

In recent years, China’s economy has swiftly recovered from the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, sustaining a relatively robust growth trajectory. GDP expanded by 5.2% in 2023 and 5.0% in 2024, with first-quarter 2025 growth reaching 5.4%—a pace that places China among the world’s fastest-growing major economies and underscores its economic resilience. 

Over the past five years, China has contributed an average of nearly 30% to global economic expansion, solidifying its position as one of the primary drivers of the world economy. As the world’s largest trading nation, China serves as the main trading partner for over 150 countries and regions. It also leads developing economies in both inward foreign direct investment (FDI) and Overseas Direct Investment (ODI). Trade and investment not only serve as a vital link between China and the global economy, but also foster shared prosperity.

In 2021, China achieved a historic milestone by eliminating absolute poverty, lifting 100 million rural residents out of deprivation—an unprecedented feat in global poverty-reduction efforts. By 2024, the country’s annual grain output surpassed 700 million metric tons for the first time, ensuring national food self-sufficiency while enabling China to provide critical humanitarian assistance to least-developed countries in Africa and Asia, thereby alleviating food crises across vulnerable regions.

China has also remained steadfast in fulfilling its climate commitments, prioritizing the development of clean energy technologies and green industries. In 2024, renewable sources contributed more than half of China’s incremental electricity generation, with the nation’s installed capacity of wind, solar, and hydro power leading the world. Similarly, China’s electric vehicle (EV) fleet dwarfs that of all other nations, underscoring its dominance in sustainable transportation industry. These efforts have yielded tangible results, including cleaner skies and air, significantly bolstering global efforts to combat climate change.

China’s economy is now confronting external and internal pressures at the moment. Geopolitical tensions and the imposition of “reciprocal tariffs” by the U.S. continue to destabilize the international trade order, casting uncertainty over global economic growth forecasts. Internally, structural weaknesses persist, including subdued domestic consumption and mounting trade barriers. Chinese firms are facing escalating restrictions in global markets, as evidenced by World Trade Organization data: as of 2024, China has accounted for 33.6% of all active anti-dumping measures initiated since 2020 (1103 out of 3285 cases).

To address these challenges, China is advancing a “dual-circulation” strategy, prioritizing domestic demand as the primary growth engine while strengthening international economic ties. This strategy leverages China’s institutional advantages—its capacity for long-term strategic planning—and its market advantages, including a vast and diverse consumer base, a comprehensive industrial ecosystem, and a skilled workforce comprising millions of entrepreneurs and professionals. These factors endow China’s economy with robust endogenous growth potential. As China progresses toward its goal of “Chinese-style modernization”—a uniquely ambitious endeavor to modernize a nation of 1.4 billion people—it is well positioned to unlock transformative opportunities for global development.

For eight decades since World War II, free trade and economic globalization have underpinned global peace and prosperity.

The post-war international order—including the Bretton Woods system, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), and its successor, the World Trade Organization (WTO)—was largely shaped by the U.S. and European countries. This system prioritized free trade and global economic integration, enabling unprecedented growth and peace over the past 80 years. However, globalization has also given rise to multiple challenges: income inequality has widened, hollowing-out of in certain industrial sectors, some countries have experienced a rise in populism and protectionism, accompanied by a growing tendency toward inward-looking policies.

History demonstrates that openness drives progress, while closure breeds stagnation. Addressing globalization’s downsides requires deepening —not retreating from—international cooperation. Resorting to exclusionary, isolating, or extreme measures is counterproductive, as such actions do not address the root causes and are likely to trigger new problems.

Emerging and developing economies, including China, have thrived under the rules-based multilateral trading system centered on the WTO. These economies remain staunch advocates of trade liberalization and global economic integration. WTO data reveals that from 1995 (its founding year) to 2023, Global trade in goods and services surged from USD 6.3 trillion to USD 31.3 trillion—a nearly fourfold increase. This expansion bolstered global value chains, strengthened industrial and supply-chain cooperation, and lifted over 1.5 billion people out of extreme poverty. Since 2000, developing economies have seen a 4.6-fold increase in goods trade volume, driven by industrial relocation and deeper integration into global trade networks. Their share of global trade has risen from 30% to 45%, while their contribution to world GDP has approached 40%.

The BRICS, now encompassing 11 member states across Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas, exemplifies this dynamic. Spanning 32% of the global landmass and home to nearly 4 billion people—48% of the world’s population—its members collectively account for 28% of global GDP, cementing their status as a pivotal force in global governance and economics. As UNCTAD’s report Trade and development foresights 2025: Under pressure notes, developing economies seek not to challenge developed counterparts, but to secure their rightful place in the global economy. 

Advanced economies should view BRICS’ rise as an opportunity, not a threat. Emerging from a foundation of economic cooperation, the BRICS countries are well positioned to further promote free trade, strengthen global economic partnerships, and unlock new opportunities across developed and developing markets, thereby injecting strong impetus into global economic recovery and growth.

China actively promotes the building of a community with a shared future for mankind and promotes global development with practical actions.

In an era marked by profound global transformations and protracted economic stagnation, China has advanced a visionary framework to address key obstacles to human development: the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind. As articulated by President Xi Jinping, all of humanity now lives in a shared global village, increasingly interconnected as a community where mutual interests are inextricably intertwined. All nations share the same vessel of destiny; to withstand turbulence and chart a path toward collective prosperity, collective action is essential. No attempt to undermine this collective journey should be tolerated.

Anchored in this philosophy, China has championed the realization of a community with a shared future for mankind, advocates an equal and orderly multipolar world and an inclusive economic globalization through concrete actions. China has since introduced a series of initiatives and measures aimed at promoting global development, with particular emphasis on advancing the concept of the Global South. 

Notably, the 2021 Global Development Initiative underscores this commitment, with China pledging to mobilize additional resources to advance cooperation across key areas—including poverty reduction, food security, epidemic prevention and vaccine distribution, development financing, climate change and green development, industrialization, the digital economy, and connectivity. This initiative aims to accelerate the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

This diplomatic agenda has gained further momentum in 2024. At the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing, China unveiled ten strategic cooperation measures to bolster African development. At the 2024 G20 Rio de Janeiro Summit, China put forward eight collaborative actions. These initiatives prioritize infrastructure modernization, effective poverty governance, and technological innovation, leveraging multilateral efforts to promote equitable global development.

Complementing these efforts is the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), now in its twelfth year. Through policy coordination, infrastructure connectivity, trade facilitation, financial integration, and people-to-people exchanges, the BRI has effectively established itself as a positive public good, contributing to shared prosperity among its participating nations. Despite occasional skepticism, its principles of mutual consultation, co-construction, and benefit-sharing have garnered global recognition

China has also pursued higher standard openness to the world. Since 2024, unilateral liberalization measures—including visa-free entry for citizens of 47 nations, relaxed foreign investment restrictions, full access to the manufacturing sector, and phased expansion of high-value service sectors such as healthcare and telecommunications—have been implemented. Furthermore, as the world’s second largest economy, China has taken concrete actions to promote global trade growth and economic development, notably through a 100% tariff exemption on exports from least-developed countries and an annual import volume exceeding USD 2.6 trillion, thereby demonstrating its pivotal role in global trade.