China's exports in the 21st century
China's main export markets from 2001 to 2022
In 2001, when China joined the World Trade Organization, its merchandise exports were valued at $266 billion. Over the next seven years, the country's exports grew steadily until the 2008 financial crisis caused a sharp decline in world trade.
This cycle will repeat itself again with consistent growth until 2015 (another slowdown in global trade), followed by a slowdown until 2020 (onset of the COVID-19 pandemic).
But merchandise exports skyrocketed by 30% in 2021 and rose to around $3.6 trillion a year by the end of 2022. This means that China's exports are larger than the entire economy of countries such as the UK, India and France.
Which countries received most of these merchandise exports? Here are China's main export markets since 2022 and their change since 2001:
| China export market | 2001 | 2022 | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| USA | $54,355 million | $581,783 million | 970% |
| European Union | $37,922 million | $562,000 million | 1382% |
| Hong Kong | $46,541 million | $297,538 million | 539% |
| Japan | $44,941 million | $172,927 million | 285% |
| South Korea | $12,519 million | $162,621 million | 1199% |
| Vietnam | $1,798 million | $146,960 million | 8074% |
| India | $1,896 million | $118,502 million | 6150% |
| Malaysia | $3221 million | $93,711 million | 2809% |
| Taiwan | $5,001 million | $81,587 million | 1531% |
| Great Britain | $6,781 million | $81,545 million | 1103% |
| The rest of the world | $48,847 million | $1,294,427 million | 2550% |
| General | $263,822 million | $3,593,601 million | 1261% |
Despite Trump-era tariffs and a growing geopolitical divide over the past few years, the US has been China's largest export market for the past two decades. In 2022, the country received nearly $582 billion worth of goods from China.
Not far from them, the 27 member states of the European Union are the second largest market for exported Chinese goods, worth $562 billion. The largest single country was the Netherlands, which accounted for $118 billion, or just under 21% of Chinese goods exports to the EU.
How do other individual countries compare? Below is a complete list of China's export markets in 2022 by country and territory:
| Country/territory | China exports (2022) |
|---|---|
| USA | $581,783 million |
| Hong Kong | $297,538 million |
| Japan | $172,927 million |
| South Korea | $162,621 million |
| Vietnam | $146,960 million |
| India | $118,502 million |
| Netherlands | $117,731 million |
| Germany | $116,227 million |
| Malaysia | $93,711 million |
| Taiwan | $81,587 million |