China will continue to advance high-level opening up, positioning itself not only as a "world factory" but also as a "world market," senior officials said at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office in Beijing on January 26, 2026.

At the briefing, officials from the Ministry of Commerce outlined its 2025 commerce performance and policy direction, noting that the country's vast domestic market will offer broader opportunities for global goods and services, while its high-quality development will continue to inject momentum into the world economy.

In 2025, consumption contributed 52 percent to China's economic growth, up five percentage points year on year. Supported by policies such as expanded trade-in programs for consumer goods, sales of major items including automobiles, home appliances and mobile phones reached 2.61 trillion yuan. Service retail sales grew 5.5 percent during the year.

Foreign trade demonstrated strong resilience, with total goods imports and exports hitting a record high of 45.47 trillion yuan, up 3.8 percent year on year. The vitality of private enterprises continued to strengthen, with their share rising to 57.3 percent. Two-way investment also saw improved quality and efficiency, as more than 70,000 new foreign-invested enterprises were established, up 19.1 percent, while high-tech industries accounted for 32.3 percent of total foreign investment. China's non-financial outbound direct investment reached 1 trillion yuan, with Belt and Road economic and trade cooperation making solid progress.

Wang Zhihua, director-general of the Department of Foreign Trade under the Ministry of Commerce, said China will focus on promoting trade innovation and balanced development in 2026. Key priorities include accelerating the development of trade in services, improving the negative list management system for cross-border services trade, and steadily advancing opening up in the services sector.

China will build demonstration zones for innovative development of trade in services, expand exports of competitive producer services, and promote the clustering of services trade in areas such as intellectual property and human resources. Professional service providers in design, consulting, finance and legal services will also be encouraged to enhance their international competitiveness, Wang said.

Wang Ya, an official with the Department of Foreign Investment Administration under the Ministry of Commerce, said further efforts will be made this year to expand market access, with a focus on the services sector. China will steadily advance opening up in areas such as telecommunications, healthcare and education, push for the early implementation of pilot programs, and support foreign-invested service enterprises in extending value chains and advancing professional, integrated and digital development.

According to a fourth-quarter 2025 macroeconomic policy report released by the China Finance 40 Forum, China's economy has shown early signs of recovery, with positive developments observed in financial markets and corporate profitability. The report noted that making the recovery more sustainable will hinge on effective policies to stabilize expectations and lower financing costs, thereby stimulating endogenous momentum in business investment and household consumption.