China shares market with global firms

By pushing the expansion of high-level opening-up and proactively sharing its vast market, China is emerging as a source of certainty for international businesses, offering stable demand and long-term growth opportunities at a time when global economic recovery remains fragile and trade fragmentation is intensifying, government officials and business leaders said on Wednesday.

By further opening its supersized market to global businesses, China is looking to offset rising protectionism and policy uncertainty elsewhere while providing multinational companies with clearer market signals and more reliable access to growth, they said.

Speaking at the launch of the Beijing International Premium Products Event for "Big Market for All: Export to China", Commerce Minister Wang Wentao said the event reflects China's efforts to further open up, expand imports and promote more balanced trade growth.

"China remains dedicated to turning its vast market into one that benefits the whole world, expanding the pie of cooperation, jointly tackling deve-lopment challenges, upholding the multilateral trading system and free trade, and injecting positive momentum into the global economy," Wang said.

Data from the General Administration of Customs shows that China's imports totaled 18.48 trillion yuan ($2.66 trillion) in 2025, accounting for around 10 percent of global imports. The record level has maintained China's status as the world's second-largest import market for the 17th consecutive year, reinforcing the role of its supersized market as a stable source of demand and an anchor for global trade at a time of heightened uncertainty.

For the world's second-largest importer, pursuing a more balanced development of imports and exports has long been a strategic priority. The approach has been incorporated into key policy recommendations for formulating China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), underscoring the country's emphasis on leveraging the domestic market to support both national development and global economic stability.

This year, the Ministry of Commerce will organize over 100 diverse import promotion events to bring together and match global sellers with Chinese buyers, ensuring that not only quality products and services enter the Chinese market, but more important, that they can achieve strong sales.

Beijing, in particular, is demonstrating capability in boosting imports as it moves toward becoming one of China's international consumption centers.

Beijing Mayor Yin Yong said the Chinese capital remains committed to driving reform and development through opening-up, fostering deeper integration between imports and consumption, and striving to build itself into a preferred gateway for high-quality global products and services to enter the Chinese market.

According to British Ambassador to China Peter Wilson, China is already the United Kingdom's third-largest trading partner, but there is still "significant headroom" to expand bilateral trade ties.

"This initiative captures exactly how we should approach strengthening UK-China trade — governments create the enabling environment and then businesses drive the outcomes," Wilson said. "We hope to help small and medium-sized British enterprises, which are some of the most innovative and fastest-growing businesses, understand and enter the Chinese market."

Oliver Oehms, chief representative of Delegation of German Industry and Commerce Beijing, said that future Sino-German economic relations should not be defined by zero-sum competition, but by "mutual success driven by innovation".

Oehms particularly noted the strong, complementary potential in areas like biopharmaceuticals, smart manufacturing, digital transformation, green and sustainable development, and education and vocational training.

In another development, Chinese e-commerce firm JD Group announced on Wednesday that it would introduce 1,000 new overseas brands in 2026 and help them double their sales in China, highlighting the growing role of digital platforms in connecting global suppliers with Chinese consumers.

Fabrizio Costa, secretary-general of the China-Italy Chamber of Commerce, said that with a market of 1.4 billion consumers, China remains one of the world's most important destinations for international businesses.

Costa said the sheer size of the market and growing interest of Chinese consumers in quality goods create significant opportunities.

"What is more important is that China has translated the positive political message into specific actions. With these initiatives in place, our companies can operate concretely in the market," he added.

Michael Jiang, president of Greater China for New Zealand-based kiwifruit marketer Zespri, said that China's sustained economic growth and the expansion of its middle-income group have underpinned the company's business development.

"Our goal is to ensure that Chinese consumers can purchase Zespri kiwifruit all 12 months of the year, further deepening our long-term presence in the market," Jiang said.

Wang Yu contributed to this story.

Contact the writers at wangkeju@chinadaily.com.cn