Many countries around the globe have reached extremely high levels of dependence on imports from China. As the world’s largest exporter, China plays a key role in global supply chains – from industrial raw materials to high-value technology products.
According to UN Comtrade and World Bank data cited by Visual Capitalist, a complete of 128 countries source no less than 10% of their imports from China. This number shows how deeply Chinese products are embedded within the structure of international trade.
Several of those countries have extremely high levels of dependence – reaching almost half of their total domestic imports.
Countries with the best import dependence from China
| Degree | Country | Share in imports from China (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cambodia | 46.8 |
| 2 | Kyrgyzstan | 45.8 |
| 3 | Hong Kong | 40.9 |
| 4 | Mongolia | 40.5 |
| 5 | Vietnam | 34.0 |
| 6 | Myanmar | 33.5 |
| 7 | Ethiopia | 32.7 |
| 8 | Paraguay | 32.5 |
| 9 | Indonesia | 31.4 |
| 10 | Tanzania | 30.5 |
| Source: Visual Capitalist (based on UN Comtrade and World Bank data, latest data available through 2024) | ||
In Southeast Asia, Cambodia is in first place, with almost half of its imported goods coming from China – mainly textile raw materials, that are later processed into export goods. Indonesia ranks ninth on the planet and depends upon China for 31.4% of its total imports.
China’s exports are based on high-value industrial goods
| Degree | Export category | Export value (USD billion) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Electric machines and electronics | 927.09 |
| 2 | Machines, nuclear reactors and boilers | 568.09 |
| 3 | Vehicles (excluding railways and trams) | 215.98 |
| 4 | Plastics and plastic products | 141.16 |
| 5 | Furniture, lighting and prefabricated buildings | 126.29 |
| 6 | Iron or steel products | 99.86 |
| 7 | Knitted clothing | 85.26 |
| 8 | Organic chemicals | 82.60 |
| 9 | Toys and sports equipment | 82.40 |
| 10 | Optical, photographic and medical instruments | 72.39 |
| Source: Trade Economics, 2024 | ||
These numbers show that Chinese exports are not any longer dominated solely by low cost goods. The largest share now consists of electronics and high-tech components, underscoring China’s role as a key supplier to modern global industry.
The dependence goes beyond the import of products
China’s trade relations with many developing countries are strengthened not only through trade in goods, but in addition through investment and infrastructure financing. Since the launch of the Belt and Road initiative in 2013, China’s state-owned banks have financed port construction and strategic logistics projects through lending programs.
Cambodia reportedly received roughly $3 billion in grants and loans from China between 2002 and 2023.
Another example is Djibouti, which imports 17.7% of its goods from China. The country illustrates how port investments can strengthen Beijing’s strategic position. In 2017, China established its first overseas military base there, positioned near the port of Doraleh, the backbone of Djibouti’s domestic economy.
This model of cooperation extends China’s influence beyond trade in goods into the domains of world infrastructure and logistics.
Why does China dominate world trade?
China’s rise as a world manufacturing center didn’t occur overnight. With a population of roughly 1.41 billion, the country offers an exceptionally large labor supply.
The basic laws of supply and demand keep labor costs competitive in the long term, especially as large-scale industrialization caused mass rural-to-urban migration starting within the late twentieth century.
In addition to its workforce, China has built a deeply integrated manufacturing ecosystem. Cities like Shenzhen have evolved into global electronics manufacturing hubs, where component suppliers, expert technicians, assemblers and distributors operate inside a single industrial cluster. This structure enables rapid mass production and allows manufacturers to reply quickly to increases in global demand.
Relatively looser industrial regulations in comparison with advanced economies, export-oriented tax policies introduced since 1985, and value-added tax (VAT) exemptions and rebates on exported goods have further reduced production costs. Exported products are subject to a zero VAT rate, which significantly increases price competitiveness on international markets.
The combination of an enormous workforce, pro-export policies, mature manufacturing infrastructure and highly integrated supply chains has earned China the title of “factory of the world.” The data clearly reflects this impact: for a lot of countries, China is not any longer only a trading partner, but a necessary pillar of their national import systems.
