2026-03-21 · percent of global trade openness
China’s trade openness surged with manufacturing exports
Still below small open economies in ratio terms.
Trade openness — exports plus imports relative to GDP — now tops 50% of global output, the legacy of globalization's postwar second wave. China's manufacturing export surge made it a trade giant: 18% of global trade openness in 2026. Yet against its vast domestic economy, it still trails small open economies where trade is lifeline-scale.
1 cell = 0.1 percent of global trade openness (0.1% of world trade) · 1,000 cells
Context
On the grid, China's 18% sits beside Asia & Pacific at 42.6%, Africa at 23%, and the Americas at 16.4% of global trade openness. The spotlight tracks a broader shift: as countries diversified away from agriculture, manufactured goods took a growing share of export baskets while food's share declined.
Globalization advanced in two waves: a 19th-century surge that collapsed with World War I, and a post-World War II wave still running. Falling transaction costs — commercial aviation, more productive shipping, cheaper communication — made the second wave possible and normalized countries exchanging similar goods with each other.
Openness is a ratio, not a measure of absolute trade. Large economies like the United States trade far less relative to GDP than almost all European countries, the same logic that leaves China below small open economies despite its enormous cross-border flows.
Exports plus imports relative to GDP (World Bank via OWID).
Share and export
Credit this grid as Inagrid — https://inagrid.com/e/2026-03-21-pol-trade-open-china