Trade, opening-up surging over years

Improved foreign trade structure

In the 75 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, particularly during the era of reform and opening-up from 1978, the country's foreign trade — a key driver of economic development — has been experiencing rapid expansion, experts said.

Underpinned by the country's relentless efforts to expand high-level openness and commitment to promoting trade facilitation, as well as an optimized trading structure increasingly driven by high-tech and green products, China's foreign trade is not only growing larger in size, but also shifting toward higher quality growth along the way, they added.

China's merchandise trade volume has soared from $1.13 billion in 1950 to $5.9 trillion in 2023. The surge in trade has been accompanied by a proportional increase in China's share of the international market, rising from less than 1 percent in 1978 to a substantial 12.4 percent last year, said the Ministry of Commerce.