China’s trade structure has undergone a fundamental shift over the past two decades. In the mid-2000s, foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) dominated both exports and imports, accounting for over half of total trade. Today, their role has declined markedly: FIE export share has fallen by roughly 30 percentage points, alongside a clear moderation in trade growth.

In their place, private domestic firms have emerged as the core of China’s export engine. By 2025, they accounted for around 64% of exports and nearly half of imports, far exceeding both FIEs and state-owned enterprises. This marks a structural reorientation from an externally anchored, FIE-led model to a domestically-driven one.

The implication is significant: China’s trade is now less dependent on foreign firms and global production networks, and it is operating in a lower-growth environment, reflecting a more mature and internally anchored economic model.