In 2025, the global trade landscape underwent profound adjustments. Factors such as unilateral trade restrictions and geopolitical games continued to disrupt the international market. China’s foreign trade demonstrated strong resilience and vitality amidst challenges. Notably, central and western provinces performed exceptionally well, securing nine out of the top ten spots in terms of national import and export growth rates. Provinces like Xinjiang, Shaanxi, Hubei, Gansu, and Yunnan significantly outpaced the national average, establishing the central and western regions as new highlands for inland opening-up.
Continuous Optimization of Foreign Trade Structure
Innovation-driven trade development has promoted the continuous optimization of the trade structure in the central and western regions, with the “green content” and “innovation content” gradually increasing.
In 2025, China’s exports of the “New Three” (electric vehicles, photovoltaic products, and lithium-ion batteries) increased by 27.1% year-on-year. Lin Chao, a senior economist at the Information and Industrial Development Department of the State Information Center, stated that the central and western regions, focusing on their distinctive strengths, have become the main driving force behind the strong export growth of the “New Three.” Leveraging lithium salt resources in Sichuan, Yunnan, Qinghai, etc., wind and solar power in the northwest and hydropower in the southwest, and the new energy vehicle industrial foundations in Anhui, Shaanxi, Chongqing, etc., the central and western regions have precisely targeted key weaknesses and frontier directions in upstream key materials, specific technology applications, and green manufacturing within the industrial chain, achieving breakthroughs in technological innovation. Data shows that Gansu, Henan, Yunnan, Anhui, Chongqing, Xinjiang, Hubei, and other regions ranked high in “New Three” export growth rates. Besides directly exporting finished products, “New Three” companies also actively adopted various methods such as technology licensing, brand cooperation, and contract manufacturing to provide high-quality green products globally.
The diversification of trade partners is also a key indicator of the optimization of the foreign trade structure in the central and western regions. Data shows that in 2025, the total import and export volume of Shaanxi, Henan, and Xinjiang with countries jointly building the Belt and Road increased by 10.5%, 14.3%, and 14.7% year-on-year respectively, with Qinghai reaching 33.7%. ASEAN has been China’s largest export market for three consecutive years, with Xinjiang’s import and export growth rate with ASEAN reaching 98.3%. Cheng Wanjing, a researcher at the Strategic Research Institute of China International Engineering Consulting Corporation, analyzed that the central and western regions are deeply expanding into emerging markets such as countries jointly building the Belt and Road, ASEAN, Latin America, and Africa, accelerating their integration into the global emerging trade network.
Meanwhile, the vitality of business entities in the central and western regions continues to be unleashed, with micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and specialized, sophisticated, distinctive, and innovative “little giant” enterprises becoming new forces in foreign trade development. A relevant official from the Export-Import Bank of China introduced that various branches provide precise financial services to enterprises through methods like “one-on-one” financial advisors, supply chain financing, and on-lending cooperation. For example, the Shaanxi Branch supported thousands of MSMEs over five years, promoting the expansion and coverage of inclusive financial services, enabling more business entities to participate in foreign trade development and forming a favorable pattern of “leading enterprises guiding, MSMEs following.” The Sichuan Branch established a “one enterprise, one policy” service mechanism for leading enterprises, helping them optimize their global industrial layout; provided “financing + intellectual support” services for innovative enterprises, helping them better seize market opportunities; and offered comprehensive financial support for the construction and operation of the China-Europe Railway Express (Chengdu-Chongqing) assembly center, enabling Sichuan enterprises and products to reach the international market.
Multi-dimensional Empowerment Drives Growth
The ability of the central and western regions’ foreign trade to break through against the trend amidst global trade changes is not accidental. Cheng Wanjing stated that this is the result of the combined effect of three factors: the upgrading of resource endowments, the reshaping of the trade pattern, and the empowerment of national strategies, and is also a reflection of the central and western provinces’ diligent internal efforts.
Relying on resource and locational advantages to promote industrial structure transformation and upgrading is the internal foundation for foreign trade growth in the central and western regions. The central and western regions possess abundant resources such as energy and land. For instance, the total installed power capacity in the central and western regions accounts for over 60% of the national total, providing solid energy security for the agglomeration of green manufacturing and high-end manufacturing industries, attracting leading green manufacturing enterprises like LONGi and BYD to establish operations. Simultaneously, central and western provinces continue to increase investment in manufacturing. For example, Anhui’s investment in the automobile manufacturing industry grew by 26.6% year-on-year in 2025. Sustained industrial investment is gradually transforming into real productive forces, accelerating the construction of an internationally competitive automotive industry innovation ecosystem, promoting the industrial structure towards higher-end and greener development, and laying a solid industrial foundation for high-quality foreign trade development.
The profound changes in the international trade landscape have become an external opportunity driving foreign trade growth in the central and western regions. The accelerated adjustment of global industrial and supply chain layouts, coupled with China’s strong export growth to emerging markets, has played a role. Lü Daliang, spokesperson of the General Administration of Customs and Director of the Department of Statistical Analysis, introduced that in 2025, China’s total import and export volume with countries jointly building the Belt and Road reached 23.6 trillion yuan, an increase of 6.3%; imports and exports with ASEAN, Latin America, and Africa increased by 8%, 6.5%, and 18.4% year-on-year respectively. Leveraging their geographical proximity to Central Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and other regions, the central and western regions are actively expanding their opening-up space to the west and south, transforming their traditional inland locations into frontier gateways facing emerging markets.
The empowerment of national strategies and the multi-faceted support from cross-border logistics and open platform construction have injected strong momentum into the foreign trade growth of the central and western regions. Cheng Wanjing stated that major national regional strategies such as the Western Development, Rise of Central China, and Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle construction continue to deepen, with supporting policies constantly improving. The newly revised Catalogue of Industries for Encouraging Foreign Investment guides foreign investment towards the central and western regions, and cooperation between eastern and western industrial parks and orderly industrial transfer are accelerating. Meanwhile, the cross-border logistics channel network is continuously being densified. The China-Europe Railway Express and the New Western Land-Sea Corridor have constructed an international logistics system combining land and sea transport, fundamentally improving the trade location conditions of the central and western regions. The functions of open platforms such as Pilot Free Trade Zones and Comprehensive Bonded Zones are also continuously strengthened, becoming highlands for institutional innovation and foreign trade industry agglomeration. In 2025, the import and export volume of Henan and Chongqing’s Comprehensive Bonded Zones accounted for 55.4% and 61.5% of their respective /municipal totals, while the import and export growth rate of Yunnan’s Pilot Free Trade Zone exceeded 20%. New business format platforms like Cross-border E-commerce Comprehensive Pilot Zones are flourishing, helping numerous SMEs reach the global market directly and providing important support for improving the quality and expanding the scale of foreign trade.
Seizing New Development Opportunities
“In 2026, China’s foreign trade faces both opportunities and risks,” analyzed Su Jian, Professor at the School of Economics, Peking University and Director of the National Economic Research Center at Peking University. On one hand, international relations are becoming further complicated, countries’ foreign trade policies are increasingly influenced by geopolitics, and external uncertainties are rising. On the other hand, with the repair of China-Europe trade relations and the advancement of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, the resilience of global industrial chains is enhanced, further expanding China’s high-level opening-up.
Currently, the central and western regions have formed green industrial clusters represented by the “New Three,” possessing significant scale effects and industrial chain advantages. International logistics networks such as the China-Europe Railway Express and the New Western Land-Sea Corridor are continuously improving. The dividends of regional economic and trade agreements like RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) are further materializing, and the global green and low-carbon transition is steadily advancing. These favorable factors will support the central and western regions in maintaining growth in foreign trade imports and exports.
The development of foreign trade in the central and western regions also faces challenges that cannot be ignored. Cheng Wanjing analyzed that at the international level, factors such as weak global economic recovery and sluggish international market demand impact the growth space for foreign trade. Domestically, as multiple central and western provinces focus on the “New Three” industries, it is necessary to avoid homogeneous competition in overseas markets in the future and prevent situations like “increased revenue without increased profits.” Simultaneously, the central and western regions have shortcomings in areas like digital trade and service trade, and there is still room for further optimization of the trade structure.
Facing these challenges, how can the central and western regions seize new opportunities in foreign trade development? Lin Chao suggested leveraging strengths and addressing weaknesses, making precise efforts to promote high-quality foreign trade development. Utilize comparative advantages, implement differentiated development strategies, fully leverage the resource advantages of the central and western regions in land, energy, labor, etc., proactively undertake and cultivate industrial chain segments with comparative advantages, and actively expand into emerging markets with strong demand such as the Middle East, Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia.
At the same time, optimize the business environment and improve the quality and efficiency of “going global” services. Build industrial service platforms to provide services like technology R&D, product testing and certification, and supply chain finance, addressing the actual pain points of enterprises expanding overseas; enhance the functions of logistics hubs, relying on strategic channels like the China-Europe Railway Express and the New Western Land-Sea Corridor to optimize services such as customs clearance and transshipment for the “New Three”; strengthen alignment with international rules, help enterprises understand the technical standards and certification requirements of major countries, and establish risk warning and response mechanisms.
