China: The World Champion of Economic Diplomacy I
Dr. Syed Mehboob
Senior Business and Political Analyst
CHINA believes in friendship, trade relations, investment, sharing economic fruits, avoiding conflicts, wars and violence, promoting peace and tolerance, global governance and multipolar world. China, as a country with a long civilizational heritage, has been the harbinger of globalization for the past two thousand years, when the Silk Road used to connect China with Central Asia. The Middle East and Europe through commerce and culture. It’s modern day version of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) , now twelve years old comprising one hundred and fifty countries and thirty two international organizations, with an investment of US$ 1,000 billion in three hundred projects, generating four hundred and twenty thousand jobs, and lifting forty million people out of poverty. Out of one hundred and ninety-three countries that are members of the United Nations Organization (UNO) , China has more trade with one hundred and thirty countries than that of the United States of America(USA).
Its policy is quiet different rather opposite to the western powers specially the United States of America’s administration have been busy in the militarization of international relations, increasing their military budgets, building bases of almost 400 in Asia alone, arming Asian allies against China, and building a network of military alliances, including even an Asian NATO itself, now talks of the threat. China’s diplomat Emmanuel Macron told French diplomats that we should learn to accept the fact that 300 years of Western hegemony is coming to an end.
Economic Diplomacy is the use of government resources to promote the growth of a country’s economy by increasing trade, promoting investments, and collaborating on bilateral and multilateral trade agreements. It can also mean the use of the economy to promote foreign policy objectives. The most commonly known are foreign aid and economic sanctions.
China’s economic diplomacy uses economic tools to achieve domestic growth and international political goals, focusing on securing resources, creating markets, and expanding geopolitical influence. It involves a range of strategies, from trade agreements and foreign investment to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) which facilitates infrastructure, trade and financial connectivity. This approach allows China to build strategic partnerships, influence global norms, and protect its interests abroad.
2024 Imports and Exports of goods by top 23 trading partners (billions of USD)[3]
Rank Country / Territory Total trade China exports China imports Trade
balance
- ASEAN
982.3 586.5 395.8 190.7
- European Union
785.8 516.5 269.3 247.2
1 United States
688.3 524.7 163.6 361.1
2 South Korea
328.1 146.4 181.7 -35.3
3 Japan
308.3 152.0 156.3 -4.3
4 Taiwan
293.0 75.2 217.8 -142.6
5 Vietnam
260.7 161.9 98.8 63.1
6 Russia
244.8 115.5 129.3 -13.8
7 Australia
211.3 70.7 140.6 -69.9
8 Malaysia
212.0 101.5 110.6 -9.1
9 Germany
201.9 107.1 94.8 12.3
10 Brazil
188.2 72.1 116.1 -44.0
11 Indonesia
147.8 76.7 71.1 5.6
12 India
138.5 120.5 18.0 102.5
13 Thailand
134.0 86.0 48.0 38.0
14 Singapore
111.1 79.2 31.9 47.3
15 Netherlands
110.0 91.2 18.8 72.4
16 United Kingdom
98.4 78.9 19.5 59.4
17 Canada
93.0 46.4 46.6 -0.2
18 France
79.6 44.5 35.1 9.4
19 Italy
72.5 46.2 26.4 19.8
20 Philippines
71.6 52.3 19.3 33.0
— Total 6,162.3 3,577.3 2,585.1 992.2
Analysts believe that China is winning the trade war and American imposition of trade tariffs is a misfire. China, its economic development, its economic diplomacy advancement are unstoppable. Due to a number of reasons, China is more comfortable in this trade war than the United States of America. First, it has proved able to withstand US coercion and deft are retaliating, achieving what is known in the jargon as “escalatory dominance”. It also indicates Chinese resilience, underlying power, preparedness, and prowess. In April 2025 Trump imposed tariffs on China which were reversed after Wall Street slumped. Trumps hollow threats to cripple China through a near total embargo are not capable because doing so would damage USA too. What American president and his advisers were expected not happened and Chinese stock market has rise by 34 percent in terms of USD , double the rise of the S& P 500 index. When Trump imposed a levy on Chinese container ships arriving at American ports, it responded with its own port charges. China threatened an antitrust investigation to put pressure on American firms such as DuPont, Google, Nvidia, and Qualcomm. Its refusal to buy American soybeans a $12bn market for midwestern farmers last year, and America’s largest export to China, is really a blow to the American government. It is interesting to note that the year to September, Chinese goods exports grew by over 8% while American exports fell by 27 percent. China is heading towards the position of a GLOBAL TECHNO SUPERPOWER.
China’s development roadmap for the next five years has begun to emerge which reaffirming pledges for the country as a crucial anchor of stability and source of opportunities for the global economy. Major objectives and measures over the next five years, including steering the development of new quality productive forces, building a robust domestic market, and promoting high-standard opening up. During the outgoing 14th Five-Year plan period, 2021 to 2025, China has contributed about thirty percent to global economic expansion. Its goods and services imports totaled over 20 trillion yuan (about 2.82 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2024, creating substantial market opportunities for international businesses. The country's exports of wind and solar products have promoted the global low-carbon transition, estimated to have helped other countries reduce carbon emissions by about 4.1 billion tonnes since 2021. For the next five years, achieving significant advancements in high-quality development is a key objective set by the CPC Central Committee. Chinese policymakers have emphasized that China should build a modernized industrial system and reinforce the foundations of the real economy. It is predicted by economists that China will remain the largest contributor to global growth and global trade. Since implementing its first five-year plan in 1953, China has undergone a historic transformation. It has vaulted from a nation that once struggled to produce essentials like matches and screws to becoming the world's largest manufacturing powerhouse and second-largest consumer market. China is now the primary trade partner of over 150 countries and regions. China is a country with 400 million middle-income people the largest middle-income population in the world, which makes it the growth engine of the world.
China has eliminated foreign investment restrictions in its manufacturing sector, expanded market access in telecom, healthcare and education, and established 22 pilot free trade zones alongside the Hainan Free Trade Port.
( To be continued)
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