Foreign firms in China remain resilient despite global trade headwinds: customs data

Foreign-funded enterprises in China demonstrated strong resilience in the first half of 2025, maintaining steady growth in trade despite a complex and volatile global economic landscape, according to official data released by the General Administration of Customs (GAC) on Monday.

"Foreign-funded enterprises in China recorded imports and exports worth 6.32 trillion yuan (about 881.6 billion U.S. dollars) in the January-June period, up 2.4 percent year on year, in maintaining the positive growth momentum for five consecutive quarters," GAC Deputy Director Wang Lingjun said at a press conference in Beijing.

"Despite the complex and volatile global trade situation, foreign businesses in China remained committed to deepening their roots in the China market with undiminished confidence," he said.

"Among the major manufacturing sectors in which foreign-invested enterprises operate, exports of specialized equipment, electrical machinery and electronic equipment all achieved relatively rapid growth. In recent years, guided by policies to stabilize foreign investment, foreign-funded enterprises in China have expanded from single locations to multiple hubs, achieving a more balanced regional presence. In the first half of the year, foreign-funded firms accounted for 30 percent of the imports and exports in east China, 25.1 percent in the central and western regions, and 26.4 percent in the northeast," Wang said.

Despite global investment fluctuations, China remains a preferred destination for foreign capital due to its stable policies and long-term growth potential, according to Wang.

"The number of foreign-invested enterprises with tangible achievements in foreign trade reached 75,000 in the first half of the year, the highest for the same period since 2021. These firms accelerated production capacity investment, with their imports of high-end equipment rising 3.2 percent year on year. Focusing on long-term development, foreign-funded enterprises in China also ramped up innovation and research and development efforts, with their imports of bonded research and development supplies increasing by 52.1 percent over the same period of last year, accounting for over 70 percent of the national total，" he said.

China's predictable policy environment and strategic vision offer unique advantages in uncertain times, Wang underlined, expressing the confidence that foreign-funded businesses will achieve greater success in the China market.

Foreign firms in China remain resilient despite global trade headwinds: customs data

Foreign firms in China remain resilient despite global trade headwinds: customs data

Foreign firms in China remain resilient despite global trade headwinds: customs data

Nicaragua's co-foreign minister Valdrack Jaentschke has warned that militarism must never be allowed to rise again, as Japan's recent moves to lift its arms export ban and revise the pacifist Constitution continue to draw international concern.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Tokyo Trials, where Japan's Class-A war criminals from World War II were brought to justice.

In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Valdrack Jaentschke voiced his concern that today's world order is being undermined by interventionism and other challenges.

"It is necessary for us to remember that after the end of World War II, countries worked hard to build a new international order based on international law. However, regrettably, more than 80 years later, we are seeing that this once explored and attempted order is being challenged by interventionism, a confrontational mindset, and tendencies like 'might makes right.' These are precisely the conditions that gave rise to fascism and militarism in the past, which ultimately led to the tragedy of World War II," he said.

He said the international community has a responsibility to pursue a new international order -- one fundamentally grounded in peace.

"Looking back at the history more than eight decades ago and comparing it with today's reality, it is our responsibility to recognize that the world should, and must, build a new international order that is more just, fairer, rooted in international law, based on a logic of mutual benefit and shared success, and fundamentally grounded in peace," said the minister.

"Today, as we revisit the Tokyo Trials, it is meant to remind the world that such a tragedy must never be repeated -- and that we must do everything in our power to prevent it from happening again. We must stop that dark world -- born from militarism, interventionism, and fascism -- from ever returning," he said.

Nicaraguan FM warns of militarism revival