Chilean cherries, Ethiopian coffee beans and a semiconductor used in a Chinese factory may seem worlds apart. Yet each has a place in the Chinese market, illustrating how trade links economies.
In 2025, China imported goods worth 18.48 trillion yuan ($2.77 trillion), retaining its position as the world's second-largest import market for the 17th consecutive year. Its imports span energy, minerals, agricultural products, advanced components and consumer goods, meeting domestic needs while creating opportunities for overseas suppliers.
This matters at a time when trade restrictions are multiplying and businesses are reassessing their supply chains. China's commitment to keeping its market open reflects a simple reality: economic growth depends on global connections.
The ninth China International Import Expo, or CIIE, opening in Shanghai from Nov 5 to 10, puts that commitment into practice. As the world's first national-level exhibition dedicated to imports, it connects overseas businesses with Chinese buyers, giving them a platform to showcase products and build lasting partnerships.
China's manufacturing industry illustrates how deeply production depends on global supply chains. An electric vehicle or industrial robot assembled in China may rely on components, equipment and expertise from suppliers across several countries.
In 2025, China imported 7.41 trillion yuan worth of mechanical and electrical products, up 5.7 percent year-on-year. These imports support China's industrial upgrading while giving overseas suppliers access to one of the world's largest manufacturing markets.
The same interdependence is evident in everyday life. Cherries from Chile, durian and pineapples from Southeast Asia, beef from Australia, soybeans from Brazil, corn from the United States and rice from Thailand all help meet Chinese consumers' diverse food needs.
As household incomes rise, opportunities are also expanding beyond goods to services, including tourism, education, healthcare and finance.
This is particularly valuable when tariffs and trade policies can shift at short notice. A broader customer base helps businesses reduce their exposure to changes in any single market. Pakistan's textile industry illustrates this point.
For years, its exporters have relied heavily on European and North American markets. China is now providing another important outlet. Pakistan's textile exports to China rose 22.2 percent in the 2025-26 fiscal year, making China its fourth-largest market for textile exports.
China cannot replace Pakistan's traditional customers, nor should it be expected to. But the additional demand gives Pakistani businesses more options and reduces their dependence on any single market.
The effect of Chinese demand can reach even further down the supply chain. Chilean cherries are a good example. More than 90 percent of Chile's cherry exports went to China in 2025, with demand from Chinese consumers serving as a key driver of growth in Chile's cherry industry.
Those sales also support jobs in orchards, sorting and packaging facilities, refrigerated transport and port operations. A purchase made by a Chinese consumer can therefore sustain livelihoods thousands of miles away.
The same logic applies to services. As Chinese consumers seek better healthcare and more specialized professional services, foreign providers have opportunities to bring their experience to the market. Singapore's Raffles Medical Group, for instance, has established hospitals and medical operations in Chongqing, Beijing and Shanghai. Its presence shows how international healthcare expertise can be brought together with local demand.
For small overseas companies, finding customers in China once meant overcoming hurdles such as dealing with customs procedures and finding reliable distributors.
However, digital platforms have changed the equation. Cross-border e-commerce, social media, livestreaming and digital payments have given smaller businesses new ways to introduce their products and reach consumers without first building an extensive sales network in China.
Ethiopian coffee brand Gera, for example, signed up with a Chinese cross-border e-commerce platform after exhibiting at the third CIIE.
An online sale is only a beginning. Lasting business relationships still require reliable suppliers, logistics and trust.
The CIIE helps bring these elements together by giving exhibitors and buyers opportunities to meet, negotiate and discuss practical arrangements.
Bangladesh's Dada Bangla has attended the expo every year since 2018, showcasing jute bags and other traditional handicrafts. Its founder says the business has grown from just over a dozen employees to more than 2,000, with opportunities in China playing an important role.
For the women involved in making these products, access to Chinese buyers has meant more jobs and a more reliable source of income. At the eighth CIIE in 2025, businesses from 37 least-developed countries participated, giving small enterprises from some of the world's poorest economies a chance to reach Chinese customers.
Cherries from Chile, coffee from Ethiopia and a semiconductor from overseas may follow very different journeys before reaching China. But they point to the same reality: trade works best when countries have room to contribute what they do well and find markets for what they produce.
China's imports are often discussed in terms of trade figures. Yet behind those figures are farmers, factory workers, small business owners and service providers whose livelihoods depend on access to overseas customers.
As the world economy faces growing uncertainty, keeping markets open and trade channels working is in everyone's interest.
China's continued willingness to buy from the rest of the world offers other economies not just a market, but growth opportunities.
The author is an associate professor at the School of International Trade and Economics, Central University of Finance and Economics.
The views don't necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
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