Commentary
BEIJING – In recent weeks, some Western media headlines have fixated on China’s goods trade surplus, often portraying it in stark terms and as a threat to industries in the West. This narrative strips international trade of its economic context, weaponizing a single metric into a story of Chinese economic aggression.
Yet, this framing reveals less about China’s trade practices and more about a growing anxiety within the West – anxiety over its own economic vitality and a palpable reluctance to adapt to a global system it once championed. Such deliberate distortion of normal trade into a systemic threat betrays a fundamental misreading of global dynamics, underpinned by a growing “rationality deficit.”
What is presented as concern over “imbalance” is, in reality, a distraction from deeper structural weaknesses in the West. Rather than confront the roots of their own economic challenges, some Western commentators have turned China’s surplus into a scapegoat.
First, the “record surplus” is a selective and misleading metric on trade dynamics. It glaringly omits trade in services, where China runs a deficit exceeding US$100 billion in the first 10 months of this year – despite Western policies such as higher visa barriers for Chinese students that choked their own education exports to China.
It also disregards the fact that sweeping Western restrictions on high-tech exports to China constitute a self-imposed constraint on their own goods trade. In both cases, the West is constraining its own competitive advantages and then blaming China for the resultant trade picture.
Moreover, trade is an exchange across time, not just across borders. When China exports goods, it often reinvests the proceeds by purchasing foreign bonds and equities, providing loans, and building factories overseas. Today’s surplus may well finance tomorrow’s imports or investments.
Second, the so-called “Chinese surplus” is, in essence, a “global surplus.” A product “made in China” is frequently the embodiment of global collaboration, integrating design, core components, and technologies from the United States, Europe, Asia and beyond. China’s surplus reflects multinational firms’ collective choice for efficiency, reliability, and integrated manufacturing ecosystems.
According to customs data, exports and imports by foreign-invested enterprises accounted for 29.3 percent of China’s total foreign trade in the first 11 months of 2025, while processing trade, which is closely linked to the global division of labor, accounted for 18.8 percent. China’s surplus not only benefits its own economy, but also drives production, innovation, and employment elsewhere.
Third, and most ironically, the West is now attacking the very rules it architected. International trade occurs fundamentally because both sides benefit – a principle embodied in the theory of comparative advantage. This theory, which rationalizes global division of labor based on relative strengths, provided the key economic rationale that propelled Britain, the United States, and Germany into manufacturing powerhouses and chronic surplus countries during their industrial ascent.
Today, however, when China rises on specialization and global cooperation, its surplus is portrayed as a threat. This inconsistency reveals not a problem with trade theory, but a crisis of confidence in the West.
Perhaps the more pertinent question is why the West exhibits such deep anxiety. Beneath the surface, the West’s discomfort stems from an unwillingness to confront its own economic problems. For decades, it outsourced manufacturing, prioritized short-term financial returns, and neglected industrial renewal. It is easier to cry “foul play” than to confront the hard truths.
China does not seek a trade surplus. In fact, recent key policy meetings have emphasized boosting domestic demand as the top priority for growth.
This strategic pivot is underpinned by sustained, concrete efforts to expand imports to achieve a more balanced trade. For instance, as the world’s first national-level exhibition dedicated to imports, the China International Import Expo has established itself as a global public good with cumulative intended deals exceeding 580 billion dollars over its eight sessions, showcasing the vast potential of China’s market.
As the world’s second-largest economy shifts toward greater consumption, it presents a growing market opportunity –one that Western businesses could seize, if their governments choose cooperation over restriction.
Ultimately, the clamor over China’s surplus is a deafening distraction from the imperative of introspection. The West’s pressing challenge lies not in its trade ledger, but in a deficit in rationality – in mustering the courage to confront uncomfortable truths, embrace a forward-looking vision, and marshal the political will essential to revitalize its own economic foundations.
– Xinhua
