Tariff truce, openness pledges: Firms in China welcome recent positive signals but want to see more

According to the latest data from the General Administration of Customs, China’s imports rose 1.4 per cent in October, the fifth straight month of expansion. 

“In the past, foreign investment was encouraged in visible sectors – manufacturing, real estate, retail,” Huang, the economic strategist, said.

“But in the last decade, under a strategy of comprehensive, multi-channel openness, China has greatly expanded access in services, education, healthcare, culture, and finance.”

At the same time, structural limits remain.

China’s trade surplus is unlikely to reverse, said Zhao from the Global CEO Institute, adding that the country is “not yet a wealthy nation” and therefore cannot rely on borrowing to support consumption.

“Even looking toward 2035 and beyond, China will still maintain a trade surplus position,” he said. “Perhaps the gap will narrow somewhat, but in the long run, China will not import more than it exports.”

China’s persistent surplus has become a renewed flashpoint with the West, stirring warnings that weak domestic demand and export-oriented industrial policies could trigger a “China shock 2.0” – a wave of Chinese goods that displaces workers and squeezes manufacturers abroad.

In the meantime, foreign firms are pressing on, adapting their strategies to the market realities of the world’s No 2 economy.