Deepening cooperation
China's demand for goods and services also gives overseas producers a stake in its development. Australia's exports of goods and services to China totaled about $126.4 billion in 2025, accounting for 29 percent of its worldwide exports, according to data from Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Australian military analyst and independent journalist Matt Williams pointed to Australian beef and wine as examples of the opportunities created by the two economies' complementary strengths.
Those ties extended beyond resources to food and other consumer products, he said. Both countries also had sovereign and security interests to consider, and sustained dialogue helped them manage differences while maintaining economic ties.
China's goods imports rose 22.3 percent year-on-year in the first nine months of 2026, according to customs data.
Vice-Minister of Commerce Yan Dong said in October that the ministry had held nearly 100 "Export to China" events over the past year to help overseas suppliers connect with Chinese buyers.
Investment flowing out of China offers another route for cooperation. In Poland, Majman said Chinese parts and components were already contributing to manufacturing, but efforts to attract Chinese investment in advanced industries had yielded only modest results. "We need Chinese investments," he said.
Majman said the next stage of cooperation would involve more than trade in goods. Joint work on digital systems and green technologies could give Polish companies a role in developing new products and capabilities.
China's outward direct investment rose 11.1 percent to $213.6 billion in 2025, according to data released in September by the Ministry of Commerce, the National Bureau of Statistics and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. The data also showed that Chinese-invested enterprises overseas had 2.97 million foreign employees at the end of 2025, and that outward investment was expanding into green and low-carbon industries and the digital economy.
Diesen pointed to joint ventures as a way for countries to participate in China's technological advances while addressing concerns about dependence. "We can still manage the competition in a friendly way," he said.
zhaojia@chinadaily.com.cn
