A cargo ship sails near Qingdao Port in East China's Shandong Province. Photo: VCG

Editor's Note: 

Currently, China's economy is steadily advancing along the path of high-quality development, even as domestic and international circumstances become increasingly complex. Some Western media, due to misunderstanding or bias, have repeatedly questioned or even distorted China's economic development. Accordingly, the Global Times launches the "Q&A on China's Economy" column to publish opinion pieces to present facts and clarify perceptions.

As economic globalization advances, more and more Chinese companies are investing and operating overseas. Yet some foreign media outlets claim that the arrival of Chinese firms "destroys" local industries. Does the "going global" of Chinese companies really pose an "industrial threat" to locals?

The answer is clearly no. Some people still view global markets through a static, zero-sum lens, assuming that when a more competitive player enters a market, others must lose out. However, economic theory has long demonstrated that in the era of economic globalization, both international trade based on comparative advantage and cross-border investment driven by factor complementarity are processes of optimizing resource allocation - through which all market participants can benefit. In recent years, Chinese companies have moved beyond simply exporting products to exporting capacity, brands, supply chains, and ecosystems. Their shift from "selling to the world" to "embedding in the world" reflects market forces at work and the optimized global allocation of resources. Just as leading Western companies, once they reach a certain stage, expand globally to build their supply chains, Chinese firms going global is equally rational and constructive.

China is the only country in the world to encompass all industrial categories in the United Nations industrial classification, making irreplaceable contributions to global economic growth and the stability of supply and industrial chains. The overseas expansion of Chinese firms has also promoted wider accessibility to technology. Chinese emerging tech firms, labeled by some as an "industrial threat," have, in fact, greatly advanced the widespread and accessible use of high technologies such as telecom base stations, photovoltaic components, and electric vehicles worldwide.

The overseas expansion of Chinese firms also brings incremental economic growth, industrial upgrading, and improved living standards to host countries. For example, when Chinese firms build factories in Southeast Asia, they help drive the simultaneous upgrading of local industrial chains. Infrastructure projects in Africa deliver roads, electricity, and development capacity. In Europe, Chinese investment in new energy vehicle plants and joint R&D provides fresh momentum for industrial transformation. Many Chinese companies have also become deeply engaged in global competition and cooperation, advancing infrastructure connectivity and upgrading the equipment manufacturing sector worldwide.

A noteworthy phenomenon is that in the early 21st century, when China had just joined the World Trade Organization, Western countries generally welcomed China's cost-effective, high-quality consumer goods, viewing China as an important contributor to easing global inflationary pressures. Why was there little talk of an "industrial threat" when Chinese exports were mainly labor-intensive products like socks and toys, yet criticism surged once China became competitive in high-tech fields such as new energy, advanced manufacturing, and digital technology?

The gradual move of Chinese firms from the lower end of the industrial chain to the mid- and high-end is an inevitable trend in China's modernization. Attempts to lock China permanently into the labor-intensive, low value-added, and low-tech segments of the global value chain reflect a short-sighted and one-sided hegemonic mind-set, and run counter to the laws of industrial development as well as the broader trend of globalization cooperation. As global industrial division evolves, all countries need to adapt. In this regard, China-Germany cooperation in the automotive sector offers a useful example. Previously focused on German vehicle imports and localized production in China, the partnership is now evolving toward deeper integration, with German manufacturers collaborating with Chinese firms in electrification and smart technologies, using Chinese digital platforms and jointly developing next-generation vehicles. This model demonstrates how both sides can achieve win-win outcomes in a highly competitive market.

As more Chinese companies go global, they bring not only products and capital but also a spirit of innovation and enterprise rooted in the drive to break new ground - a powerful driving force behind their rising competitiveness. Former French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin once said that China's younger generation is intelligent, hardworking, and constantly innovative. The world needs innovation and China is precisely a major innovative country. After visiting China, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz noted that he was impressed by the diligence of the Chinese people. Their remarks reflect a simple truth: Enhancing competitiveness must start from within, and no form of protectionism can ensure that firms remain permanently advantaged in the value chain.

Many multinational corporations have already taken root in China. China has never treated them as a "systemic threat." During those years, China derived important momentum for its development from foreign investment, which enabled its economic growth and industrial upgrading. Today, China continues to expand high-level opening-up, allowing foreign companies to share in its development opportunities. It is hoped that relevant countries and media will recognize the changes taking place, set aside biases against Chinese companies going global, and allow all parties to develop together in a fair and equitable market environment.