The ASEAN region has become the largest importer of goods from China

Exports play a key role in fueling China's economic growth, serving as the cornerstone of its development strategy. Since its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, China has experienced a remarkable increase in export activity, notes statista.com, recalling that, based on its huge manufacturing sector and large workforce, exports China's goods trade has grown more than tenfold in the past two decades, rising from less than $300 billion in 2001 to nearly $3.4 trillion in 2023.

According to the cited source, the European Union (EU) is a major export partner of China, and its importance to the world's largest exporter is growing as tensions between the US and the Asian country have led to a significant drop in US imports from the central world production. Thus, among China's most important export partners are the United States, the European Union and the ten member countries of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), which surpassed the USA, becoming China's most important export market in 2023 , after a drop in American imports amid rising tensions. Although down 5% in 2023 from 2022, ASEAN imports from China totaled $523.7 billion, while EU purchases from the Asian country fell 10.2% to 501, 2 billion dollars. China's exports to the US fell by 13.1%, to 500.3 billion dollars, according to official data from Beijing, cited by Statista. Hong Kong follows, with purchases of $274.6 billion (-6.3%), Japan - with $157.5 billion (-8.4%), South Korea - with $149 billion (-7 .2%), India - with 117.7 billion dollars (+0.8%).

Newly entered on the list of China's most important partners is Russia, which recorded an increase of over 65% in imports from the Asian country since 2021, a year before Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, according to the quoted source. Last year, these imports increased by 46.9% to 111 billion dollars.

All of these economies rely on China for a wide range of goods, from electronics and machinery to textiles and other consumer products as well as industrial supplies. The Covid-19 pandemic, which temporarily halted the Chinese economy or parts of it, highlighted the interconnectedness of the world economy and its dependence on China, as the effects of disruptions to the global supply chain were felt for years.

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Paris on Sunday, starting a visit to three European countries, his first visit in five years. In the first leg of his tour, the Chinese leader met with French President Emmanuel Macron and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, discussing the war in Ukraine, China's relationship with Russia and trade policy. China's subsidies to domestic electric vehicle manufacturers have also been on the agenda, as the European Commission is currently investigating whether these subsidies give Chinese automakers an unfair advantage over their European competitors in the fast-growing electric car market .

• The EU wants to increase its food exports to China

Increasing exports of agri-food products to the world's second largest economy and preserving food above the increased trade tensions between China and the EU is the objective of the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, according to Reuters.

He said last month, in an interview in Shanghai: "There are no barriers to Chinese imports in the food trade. My intention is to avoid, as much as possible, that agriculture is penalized for problems in other sectors, which can sometimes happen".

Unlike sectors such as photovoltaic panels and new ecological vehicles, the European Union's agri-food sector recorded a surplus from trade with China. Also, compared to other sectors, free food trade remains "a very important tool to ensure food security everywhere", which is the reason why the Western sanctions imposed on Russia, after the invasion of Ukraine, were not applied to agri-food products, Commissioner Wojciechowski said.

Last year, EU agri-food exports to China amounted to euro14.6 billion, down 8% compared to 2022, while EU imports from China fell by 15% to euro8.3 billion of euros, according to Agerpres.