"We must accelerate the building of a strong trading nation, upgrade goods trade, innovate service trade, and develop digital trade." "Gradually shift from large imports and large exports to high-quality imports and exports, promoting the transformation from a major trading country to a strong trading nation...... A series of major strategic arrangements made by the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core point the way forward for building a strong trading nation in the new era and on the new journey.
Trade is an important vehicle connecting domestic and international economic cycles and building a new development pattern, as well as a powerful engine for economic growth. The 15th Five-Year Plan outline proposes accelerating the building of a strong trading nation, promoting higher quality and efficiency in foreign trade, and promoting balanced development of imports and exports.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, all regions and departments have deeply practiced Xi Jinping's economic thought, firmly expanded high-level opening-up, accelerated the pace of building a strong trading nation, promoted the consolidation of its status as a major trading nation, responded to global trade changes through openness and innovation, and injected strong momentum into world economic development through win-win cooperation.
Strengthening strategic guidance and consolidating the foundation of a strong trading nation
On May 20, a 115,000-ton oil tanker built by China Shipbuilding Dalian Shipbuilding Shanchuan Heavy Industry was officially delivered. Since the beginning of this year, China's shipbuilding industry has continuously received new orders, securing over 90% of global orders for ultra-large oil tankers.
In the first four months of this year, China's total value of goods trade imports and exports reached 16.23 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.9%. During the same period, exports of high-tech and high value-added electromechanical products accounted for 63.5% of total exports.
You won't know how difficult it is until you go through it. Currently, the century-old changes are accelerating, the international situation is intertwined with turmoil, and a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is reshaping the global competitive landscape. China's foreign trade has achieved growth against the trend and steady progress, witnessing the resolute steps from a major trading nation to a strong trading nation.
In 2013, China rose to become the leading country in goods trade, marking a historic leap in foreign trade. However, large scale does not necessarily mean strong competitiveness; at that time, China's traditional advantages in low-cost manufacturing weakened and the development of high value-added service trade lagged, highlighting the contradiction of "big but not strong."
On December 5, 2014, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out at the 19th collective study session of the Political Bureau of the 18th CPC Central Committee, "We must assess the situation and strive to seize opportunities and gain initiative in economic globalization," emphasizing "accelerating the transition from a major trading country to a trading powerhouse."
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has grasped the trend of the times, followed the course of history, coordinated both domestic and international situations, and promoted high-level opening-up. China's foreign trade has achieved historic accomplishments and steadily moved toward becoming a strong trading nation.
Building a strong trading nation provides important support for accelerating the establishment of a new development pattern.
Building a new development pattern is an open dual circulation of domestic and international circulation, not a closed single domestic circulation. Foreign trade is a key hub for smooth domestic and international dual circulation and one of the "three driving forces" of economic growth.
Since the 14th Five-Year Plan, China's total import and export value has successively surpassed the 40 trillion yuan and 45 trillion yuan thresholds, with an average annual growth rate of 7.1%. High-tech product imports and exports have grown at an average annual rate of 7.9%, solidifying its position as a major goods trading country, and continuously improving the "new content" and "green content" of foreign trade.
Building a strong trading nation helps better utilize both domestic and international markets and resources, promotes market connectivity, industrial integration, innovation fosters, and rules are linked, advancing high-level technological self-reliance and strength, enhancing the resilience and security of industrial and supply chains, deeply participating in global industrial division and cooperation, and forming a virtuous cycle at a higher level of openness.
Building a strong trading nation is an objective requirement to meet people's needs for a better life.
From cross-border e-commerce to warehousing and logistics, from offshore trade to bonded maintenance, new foreign trade models and formats are absorbing a large number of jobs; Imports of technology, equipment, key components, and energy resources inject momentum into industrial upgrading; Imports of high-quality consumer goods and services enrich high-quality supply to expand domestic demand......
Since the 14th Five-Year Plan, China's share of the international import market has remained around 10%, and its share of the international export market has remained above 14%. In the first four months of this year, private enterprises' imports and exports accounted for 57.4% of China's total import and export value, continuing to maintain their position as the country's leading foreign trade leaders. According to estimates, foreign trade entities directly and indirectly create employment for over 180 million people, accounting for about a quarter of China's total employed workforce.
As the building of a strong trading nation deepens, China's advantages in a super-large-scale market and strong supply capacity have been further leveraged, and the important role of foreign trade in stabilizing growth, promoting employment, and benefiting people's livelihoods has become more prominent, continuously enhancing the people's sense of gain and happiness.
Building a strong trading nation is a pragmatic measure to promote the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind.
"China's development depends on the world, and the world's prosperity also depends on China." "Let China's large market become a major opportunity for the world...... Facing some countries attempting to "decouple and cut supply chains," build "small courtyards with high walls," and create closed, exclusive "small circles," China insists on high-level opening-up, promotes inclusive economic globalization, and makes trade a solid bond connecting the common destiny of peoples worldwide.
By the end of 2025, China has become a major trading partner for more than 160 countries and regions worldwide, and its increasingly broad path of diversification offers more opportunities for countries around the world.
The report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed "advancing the construction of a strong trading nation," and the report further proposed "accelerating the construction of a strong trading nation." The 15th Five-Year Plan outlined deployments centered on "accelerating the construction of a strong trading nation and promoting the quality and efficiency of foreign trade...... The "roadmap" and "construction schedule" for building a strong trading nation are clearly laid out, and China's foreign trade is steadily moving toward higher levels and higher quality goals.
Accelerate innovation-driven development to enhance core trade competitiveness
Entering the sixth-generation market in Yiwu, Zhejiang—the Global Digital Trade Center—tech products like drones, robot dogs, and mechanical exoskeletons are everywhere. Digital scenarios like AI navigation, "digital boss ladies," and real-time translation screens are everywhere. Merchants host live streams and videos, using 10-gigabit fiber to expand their business worldwide.
The leap and transformation from Yiwu's first-generation street market to the sixth-generation digital market vividly reflects the innovative development of China's trade.
In September 2023, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out at the 8th collective study session of the Political Bureau of the 20th CPC Central Committee: "We must accelerate the building of a strong trading nation, upgrade goods trade, innovate service trade, develop digital trade, take digitalization and greening as the direction, further enhance the status of international division of labor, and move toward the mid-to-high end of the global value chain." ”
The "15th Five-Year Plan" outline focuses on "promoting trade innovation and development," making a series of specific deployments including "optimizing and upgrading goods trade," "vigorously developing service trade," "innovating and developing digital and green trade," and "supporting new business formats and models such as cross-border e-commerce."
Currently, from homes to factories, from daily life to production, Chinese robots are fully integrated into the lives of global users and industrial upgrades.
In the first quarter, Chinese robots accelerated their overseas expansion. According to statistics from the General Administration of Customs, the total export value of various separately listed robots in China reached 11.32 billion yuan, with products exported to 148 countries and regions.
From the overseas sales of the "new trio" of new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaic products, to the rapid growth of artificial intelligence, robotics, and innovative drugs as the "new and new trio," highlighting the structural transformation of China's trade advantages.
The Financial Times pointed out that, compared to the past with simple goods exports, the proportion of technology, digital systems, and supporting services in China's foreign trade is gradually increasing.
With the accelerated adjustment of global industrial division of labor, the widespread application of digital technologies, and the deep restructuring of international economic and trade rule systems, service trade and digital trade have shown strong growth momentum, promoting goods trade from a single "product export" to a comprehensive value output of "product + service + experience," thereby enhancing trade added value and international competitiveness.
Looking at the international market, China's e-commerce chain moves the globe, Chinese cuisine spreads worldwide, Chinese films, short dramas, and online games have won fans overseas, and "China travel" and "China shopping" continue to heat up......
Currently, the scale of China's service trade continues to expand, digital trade is booming, and new trade formats are constantly emerging. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China's service trade scale *** surpassed the 1 trillion USD mark. AI-driven intelligent customer service, virtual hosts, cross-border live streaming, industrial internet solutions, and more deeply empower the entire trade chain.
Strong industries mean strong trade. Only by continuously improving the modernization level of industrial and supply chains can the core competitiveness of trade be strengthened.
Currently, traditional industries are accelerating their transformation and upgrading, emerging and future industries are thriving, driving the continuous rise in the value of Chinese manufacturing, Chinese services, and Chinese technology brands; China-Europe freight trains originating from eastern, central, and western regions are racing endlessly, with steady growth in port throughput, and the level of connectivity between land and sea, domestic and international connections, and mutual support between east and west, continues to leap......
The 15th Five-Year Plan outlines deployments such as "building a modern industrial system," "accelerating high-level technological self-reliance and strength," "deepening the construction of Digital China," "promoting high-quality and efficient development of the service industry," and "building a modern infrastructure system," providing systematic guidance for China's foreign trade to shift from "scale-oriented" to "quality-efficiency-oriented."
China is accelerating the development of new quality productive forces through technological innovation, continuously promoting high-quality industrial development, and driving industrial and supply chains to new heights in quality, efficiency, and momentum, laying a solid industrial foundation for a strong trading nation.
Deepening reform and opening up to expand new space for trade development
At midnight on May 1st, as the barrier at the freight inspection gate at Shenzhen Bay Port slowly lifted, trucks loaded with 24 tons of South African fresh apples were quickly inspected and released by Shenzhen Customs before being distributed to major supermarkets and wholesale markets nationwide.
This is the import goods that have entered ordinary households since China fully implemented zero tariffs on 53 African countries with diplomatic relations starting May 1, 2026. In the first four months of this year, the benefits of China's zero-tariff measures against non-foreign countries gradually emerged, with bilateral trade exceeding 800 billion yuan during the same period.
From hosting global import-themed expos, to implementing provisional import tariffs lower than *** on 935 goods, and to fully implementing zero-tariff measures for African countries with diplomatic relations...... In recent years, China has continuously expanded imports, better leveraging its role as the "world's factory" and "world market," sharing the opportunities of China's large market with other countries.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China has promoted balanced development of foreign trade, coordinated efforts to build a strong domestic market and a strong trading nation, accelerated the construction of a unified national market, promoted integrated domestic and foreign trade, and continuously enhanced global resource allocation capabilities.
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "We must continuously expand high-level opening-up, firmly pursue a strategy of mutual benefit and win-win opening-up, rely on China's super-large-scale market advantages, attract global resources and factors through domestic circulation, enhance the synergy between domestic and international markets and resources, steadily advance institutional opening-up in rules, regulations, management, and standards, improve the quality and level of trade and investment cooperation, and continuously expand the development space for Chinese-style modernization." ”
On April 9, the State Council issued the "Overall Plan for the China (Inner Mongolia) Pilot Free Trade Zone," expanding the number of free trade zones to 23.
From the "hinterland of the interior" to the "frontier of openness," the establishment of the Inner Mongolia Free Trade Pilot Zone uses the "institutional key" to promote more efficient circulation of logistics, information, and capital flows, opening China's door to opening up to the north wider and more steadily.
Benchmarking against high-standard international economic and trade rules and steadily expanding institutional openness is an important focus in building a strong trading nation.
Starting March 1 this year, the newly revised Foreign Trade Law of the People's Republic of China came into effect. This revision clarifies that foreign trade work should "promote the building of a strong trading nation," and stipulates proactive alignment with high-standard international economic and trade rules and active participation in the formulation of international economic and trade rules.
Promote the entry into force of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), actively advance accession to the Digital Economy Partnership (DEPA) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP); China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 version was implemented; Hainan Free Trade Port operated with full island customs closure; and major international trade events such as the China International Import Expo, Canton Fair, China Consumer Expo, and CIFTIS have been held year after year......
A series of pragmatic measures benchmark against high-standard international economic and trade rules, promote reform through openness domestically, continuously optimize the business environment, and stimulate the internal motivation of foreign trade operators; Promoting cooperation through openness to the outside world, enhancing the influence of China's foreign trade through broader, broader, and deeper international cooperation.
Not rejecting the multitude of streams, only then can one become a river or sea. China's "circle of friends" for win-win cooperation with countries around the world is growing: by 2025, there will be 249 countries and regions worldwide engaged in trade with China, and the proportion of China's imports and exports with Belt and Road countries will rise to 51.9% of total trade. In the first four months of this year, China's imports and exports with ASEAN, the EU, Latin America, and Africa grew year-on-year by 15.7%, 13.2%, 15.3%, and 19.4% respectively, while imports and exports with South Korea and the United Kingdom grew by 34.3% and 10%.
Openness brings progress, and cooperation leads to win-win outcomes.
Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing, Dalian, Xiamen, and other regions have taken the lead in building national service trade innovation and development demonstration zones; Guizhou vigorously develops new business models such as cross-border e-commerce and bonded processing, implementing an action plan to double foreign trade entities...... All regions and departments are following the deployment of the "15th Five-Year Plan," leveraging their own resource endowments and locational advantages, implementing a series of new measures to further promote a flourishing and distinctive high-level opening-up pattern.
Looking ahead, under the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping's economic thought, China's foreign trade will raise the sails of openness and activate its innovation engine, surely riding the waves in the ocean of international economic and trade trade, empowering China's high-quality economic development and injecting greater confidence into the recovery and growth of the world economy.