By Ouyang Jie, People’s Daily

In 2025, China’s foreign trade demonstrated strong resilience and vitality.
China’s total imports and exports reached 45.47 trillion yuan ($6.55 trillion) in 2025, a record high that consolidated the country’s position as the world’s largest trader in goods.
Foreign trade rose 3.8 percent, marking the ninth consecutive year of growth — the longest uninterrupted expansion since China joined the WTO.
A closer look at this impressive performance reveals one most distinctive feature: diversity.
Diversity in markets
In April 2025, the United States announced so-called “reciprocal tariffs” on all its trading partners, including China, and repeatedly escalated the measures, triggering an unprecedented tariff war. As tensions mounted, the world watched closely to see how China would respond.
At that moment, at the Yiwu International Trade Market in Yiwu, known as the “the world’s capital of small commodities” in east China’s Zhejiang province, merchants remained unfazed by market volatility, steadily expanding into emerging markets across Africa, Central Asia, and Latin America.
At Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, also in Zhejiang, a real-time global shipping map revealed the densest cluster of routes converging on Chinese ports.
Further northwest, at the Horgos Port in Xinjiang, trains and trucks destined for Central Asia were laden with premium Chinese goods.
By tapping into these emerging markets, China’s foreign trade has become more resilient to external shocks.
China’s foreign trade network continues to broaden, with partners spanning the globe. In 2025, China engaged in trade with 249 countries and regions. Notably, import and export volumes increased with more than 190 of them.
Trade partnerships with China are deepening: 14 countries and regions traded over 1 trillion yuan, 62 surpassed 100 billion yuan, and 137 exceeded 10 billion yuan–up by 2, 6, and 10, respectively, from 2024.
This expansion illustrates how China’s foreign trade is reducing its dependence on any single market and achieving more balanced and resilient growth.
Diversity in products
Trade diversification means more than just reaching new markets — it drives higher quality, greater efficiency, and newer growth engines. Today, a growing array of “Made in China” products is gaining global traction by aligning with international demand through innovation and supporting the worldwide shift toward low-carbon development through sustainable practices. There innovation-driven value and eco-friendly credentials continue to rise.
Artificial intelligence offers a vivid example. Chinese intelligent robots not only perform tasks such as dancing, running marathons, and practicing tai chi, but also drive efficiency in production. In overseas infrastructure and transportation projects, handling robots equipped with vision systems and algorithms can intelligently avoid obstacles, while welding robots automatically scan and model workpieces to calculate optimal welding solutions. In 2025, exports of both types of robots grew by more than 60 percent.
These “quality Chinese products” enrich the lives of consumers worldwide and play a key role in global industrial and supply chains, providing strong support for international industrial cooperation.
Diversity in imports
The vast potential of China’s ultra-large market continues to unlock new opportunities for global businesses seeking access.
Recent data indicates that in the first three quarters of 2025, China became the main export destination for 79 countries and regions, three more than in the whole of 2024. China imported goods worth 18.48 trillion yuan in 2025, accounting for about 10 percent of global imports.
The effective release of production and consumption demand in this ultra-large market has provided broad market space and cooperation opportunities for countries around the world.
A range of policies to stabilize foreign trade have helped enterprises secure orders and expand markets, providing solid support for diversification. Pilot measures to facilitate cross-border trade have been implemented first in pilot areas and then replicated nationwide, helping businesses reduce costs and improve the efficiency and smooth flow of cross-border logistics.
Logistics corridors are reaching more markets, paving a broader path for trade diversification.
At Yantai Port in east China’s Shandong province, shipments on China — Africa liner services rose by 49 percent year on year in 2025, hitting a record high and linking China’s vast market with Africa’s distinctive industries.
At Ningbo-Zhoushan Port in Zhejiang province, the world’s first China-Europe Arctic container express route was launched, offering faster and lower-carbon international logistics options for China’s high-end manufacturing, cross-border e-commerce, and new energy industries.
Driven by open channels such as China-Europe freight trains, the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, and the China-Laos Railway, border provinces and regions are steadily moving toward the forefront of opening up.
Diversity has become a source of confidence for China in navigating external risks and a key pillar of its foreign trade resilience. Looking ahead, with global uncertainty still high and pressure mounting to stabilize trade, China is expected to step up efforts in innovative trade development, injecting greater certainty into global growth and creating new opportunities worldwide.

By Qi Zhiming, Liu Xiaoyu,

Hong Qiuting, Dou Hao, People’s Daily
Neikeng township in Jinjiang, southeast China’s Fujian province, may sound unfamiliar to many, yet on average, one in every eight people worldwide wears a pair of sippers produced there.
This township is home to nearly 2,000 enterprises engaged in the slipper manufacturing business. It produces over 1 billion pairs of slippers each year, with total annual output value exceeding 30 billion yuan ($4.32 billion). On a broader scale, the city of Jinjiang, with Neikeng as its production core, exports about 40 pairs of slippers every second to global markets.
At Fujian Zhenlong Shoes Co., Ltd., local manufacturer Zhang Zhenxian’s phone buzzes continuously with international orders in English and French. Nearby, Musa, an African procurement specialist, scans a QR code on a slipper sole, instantly accessing product specifications, 3D diagrams, and compliance certificates. With a few tablet swipes, he customizes color and pattern in real-time. Within 30 seconds, a 3,000-pair order for Nigeria syncs to a smart factory 5 kilometers away.
What began as ordinary household footwear now sweeps global markets with remarkable speed. From Southeast Asian streets to American apartments, Chinese-made slippers have become everyday fashion items abroad.
In Yiwu in east China’s Zhejiang province, known as the world’s capital of small commodities, livestream e-commerce brings traditional manufacturing to global audience.
During a Tena Footwear livestream hosted by a Malaysian team, hexagon-patterned anti-slip sandals (priced at ¥120) demonstrated extraordinary grip on oil-coated glass and 45-degree steel slopes. Over 40,000 pairs sold in just three hours.
Tena Footwear, with two decades of export experience to Europe, the U.S., Japan, and South Korea, recognized Southeast Asia’s livestream boom early. “Partnering with local agencies,” said company head Liu Bo, “we’ve achieved consistent year-on-year sales doubling in these markets.”
Small products can open up vast markets. Market research shows that the global slipper market reached $30 billion in 2024, up 7.2 percent year on year, making it one of the fastest-growing categories in international consumer trade.
As a major supplier of slippers, China’s slipper industry is upgrading toward smarter manufacturing, healthier materials and greener production. Output and exports continue to rise steadily, with products sold to diverse markets including Europe, the United States, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, cementing slippers as a strong segment of China’s light-industry exports.
Behind the global appeal of Chinese slippers lies technological innovation and comprehensive industrial upgrading.
In a dust-free laboratory of Xiangtai Footwear in Jinjiang, vice general manager Zhang Zhenjie placed an ordinary-looking white material into a freezer set at minus 20 degrees Celsius. An hour later, when it was taken out, the material still felt warm to the touch.
“This is a phase-change temperature-regulating material,” he explained. “It absorbs and releases heat, keeping feet within a comfortable temperature range.”
Originally developed for spacesuits, the technology is now used in outdoor slippers designed for Nordic markets, priced several times higher than conventional products.
Laboratories have become the essential core of Jinjiang’s leading footwear manufacturers.
In one example, Xiangtai Footwear, in collaboration with the Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has developed an antibacterial and odor-resistant EVA (ethylene vinyl aetate) composite material that boosts slipper’s bacterial inhibition rate to 99 percent.
Meanwhile, another local enterprise extracts fiber from Fujian-grown juncao grass to produce biodegradable, environmentally friendly shoe materials.
Over the past five years, the number of invention and utility model patents authorized in Jinjiang’s slipper industry has grown by more than 30 percent annually on average.
Strong supply-chain support and rapid-response mechanisms also enable Chinese slipper makers to swiftly capture shifts in global demand.
In a flexible intelligent manufacturing workshop of Jiajiale, a footwear brand based in Fujian, a single production line tells a global story: the first 30 pairs feature Nordic minimalist patterns for indoor sock slippers; the next 50 pairs are beach sandals adorned with Southeast Asian floral motifs; the final 20 pairs are functional slippers designed for the Japanese market, with subtle arch support.
This flexibility is powered by full digital transformation. Orders placed through cross-border e-commerce platforms are transmitted directly to a manufacturing execution system (MES), which automatically breaks down processes, calculates material requirements and schedules production. Automated guided vehicles (AGVs) deliver raw materials of different colors and textures precisely to each workstation.
According to brand founder Chen Zhihua, digital systems have shortened new product development cycles from 45 days to just 15 days, while reducing the minimum order quantity from 3,000 to 300 pairs.
As competition intensifies, Chinese slipper companies are increasingly focusing on brand development. In 2024, the average export price of Chinese slippers featuring homegrown brands or IP co-branding rose significantly, reflecting a strategic shift toward branding to strengthen premium pricing. At the same time, the rise of cross-border e-commerce has provided smoother and more accessible channels for small and medium-sized enterprises to expand overseas.
From producing purely functional items to creating fashionable products, from competing on low prices to delivering premium offerings, and from unbranded sandals to distinct brand identities, the global journey of Chinese slippers vividly traces the transformation of “Made in China.” This once-humble household product continues to write its remarkable story in markets across the world.

By Chang Qin, People’s Daily

Agricultural products, once limited to local markets, are now reaching significantly larger stages, gaining recognition and value far exceeding their places of origin. This shift is driven not only improved quality but also by an increasing reliance on a less visible yet increasingly decisive force: intellectual property (IP).
In the drive toward comprehensive rural revitalization, IP has evolved far beyond a mere legal concept. It has become a practical tool — often described by villagers as a “golden key” — empowering rural industries to unlock greater value and advance further along their development paths.
First and foremost, IP establishes clear ownership. Through legal protection, it defines the boundaries of rural industries’ core assets. The most intuitive example is Geographical Indications (GIs), which serve as a “terroir label” for local products.
From Sanya mangoes to Zhashui black fungus, GI certification functions much like an authenticity seal. It enables products born of distinctive landscapes to command fair prices in the market with confidence. This protective shield safeguards not only a region’s reputation but also the livelihoods of countless farming families.
Moreover, IP protection safeguards the source of innovation. Seeds are often described as the “chips” of agriculture. Counterfeit or imitation seeds — created through superficial modification of original varieties — disrupt market order and seriously undermine breeders’ incentives to innovate. In response, China has built a comprehensive protection system for breeding innovation: from establishing a national crop germplasm resources bank and implementing a seed industry revitalization plan, to cracking down hard on infringement. The goal is to preserve not only breeders’ enthusiasm but also the foundation for original innovation in agricultural science and technology.
Beyond protection, IP generates a chain of powerful ripple effects that drive the upgrading of rural industries. It accelerates technological iteration. In plant breeding, stronger IP incentives encourage seed companies to invest boldly in R&D. What was once a labor-intensive, experience-based endeavor is increasingly becoming technology-driven, predictable, and highly efficient. Utilizing digital tools and scientific methods, agricultural breeding is shifting towards precision agriculture, yielding a growing number of high-yield, high-quality, and stress-resistant breakthrough varieties.
IP unlocks higher value for products. The brand equity cultivated through IP helps extend industrial chains. In Jurong, east China’s Jiangsu province, the GI for “Jurong strawberries” has allowed the region to move beyond basic cultivation. A featured industrial chain has taken shape, linking fruit production with agritourism, leisure and catering. Behind this transformation lies the brand premium and imaginative space created by intellectual property, which allows agriculture to evolve from simply selling products to offering landscapes, experiences, and culture, significantly expanding value and development potential.
IP also helps activate dormant resources. Germplasm preserved in repositories remains little more than a specimen unless it is put to use. Only by awakening these resources can their true value be realized.
Recently, China launched a national crop germplasm resources information platform, enabling more resources to be searched, shared, and utilized. This model of shared use under protection breaks down information silos, allows breeders to build on previous achievements, and ensures that precious genetic resources are not merely stored, but actively applied.
Modern agriculture has long moved beyond reliance on physical labor alone; it now depends on technology and innovation. By making effective use of intellectual property, regions across China are injecting sustained momentum into comprehensive rural revitalization.