Chinese imports, consumption to fuel global recovery

China has vowed to raise imports along with its consumption-boosting initiatives, translating its massive market into a stable engine for global trade and a thriving destination for foreign businesses, senior economists and business executives said.

At a time of rising protectionist measures worldwide, Beijing's commitment to opening its doors even wider to imports is expected to provide much-needed momentum for the fragile global economic recovery, they added.

Their comments came after the General Administration of Customs said earlier this month that China's imports expanded 0.5 percent in 2025 from a year earlier to 18.48 trillion yuan ($2.65 trillion), maintaining its share of global imports at around 10 percent.

"China's imports hit a record high in scale last year, securing the country's position as the world's second-largest import market for the 17th year running," said Wang Jun, deputy head of the administration, at a news conference.

Wang noted that the declining global prices for key commodities last year, such as crude oil and iron ore, down about 10 percent, dragged down the overall import growth rate by 1.4 percentage points. "Given these conditions, achieving any import growth was no easy feat," he said.

"It's worth noting that several countries have politicized trade and economic issues, restricting high-tech exports to China on various pretexts — otherwise, we'd be importing even more," Wang added.

For the world's second-largest importer, pursuing the balanced development of imports and exports has been a long-term strategy. It has been included in the recommendations of China's top leadership for formulating the country's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30).

In December, Han Wenxiu, executive deputy director of the Office of the Central Commission for Financial and Economic Affairs, told a news conference that China "should expand exports while increasing imports, in order to promote the sustainable development of foreign trade".

The Ministry of Commerce also launched the "Big Market for All: Export to China" initiative in November to motivate foreign businesses to increase their exports to China and seize the new opportunities offered by the vast Chinese market.

"China has made a lot of efforts along the way to boost imports," said Tu Xinquan, director of the China Institute for World Trade Organization Studies at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing.

"To date, China's overall tariff level has been cut to 7.3 percent — a level nearing the average of developed countries," Tu said. "China also applies provisional tariff rates, lower than the most-favored-nation rates, to nearly 1,000 imported items annually."

In particular, China implemented zero-tariff treatment on 100 percent of tariff lines for all 53 least developed African countries that have diplomatic ties with China.

The annual China International Import Expo, held since 2018, is further evidence of Beijing's import expansion drive. Last year's edition saw intended deals amount to $83.49 billion over a one-year period, hitting a record high.

"In an era of economic uncertainty, a market of such scale and openness has become perhaps the world's most sought-after resource," said Liao Fan, director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of World Economics and Politics.