It is believed by an Australia scholar that as China continues to assert itself as an unexpected champion of open trade, its domestic economic trajectory offers concrete evidence of its capacity to shape the global economic order.
"China's development experience has been facilitated by the fact that it's been able to access other markets," says Professor Mark Beeson, an adjunct professor at the Australia-China Relations Institute, University of Technology Sydney, in a recent interview with South. This symbiotic relationship between China's export-led growth and global economic integration now underpins its influential stance.
The tangible results of this model are clear in its latest projections. In 2025, China's economy is projected to grow by 5%, reaching a GDP total of approximately 140 trillion yuan, as predicted by China's National Development and Reform Commission, while contributing an estimated 30% to global economic growth. This robust performance, underscored by rising forecasts from institutions like the IMF, demonstrates the scale of its economic influence.
This growth is increasingly driven by a notable structural shift. High-tech manufacturing is expected to expand by 9.2%, with the production of new energy vehicles surging by 17%. Breakthroughs in fields like quantum computing further signal China's transition into a global leader in science and innovation. These advancements illustrate not only the resilience of its economic model but also its growing capability to drive high-value segments of global trade.
In this context, as protectionism rises elsewhere, China's significant reliance on and contribution to global growth - projected at nearly one-third in 2025 - creates a powerful vested interest in maintaining stable and cooperative trade channels.
However, this very success breeds complexity. As Beeson notes, many in already-developed nations remain "quite nervous about the success of Chinese industrialization." The dual narrative of China as both a potential stabilizer of free trade and a formidable competitor continues to shape international perceptions.
Ultimately, the question remains whether China can leverage this economic and technological momentum to foster broader political cooperation around shared agendas. As Beeson concludes, deeper economic integration has historically been "good for peace and a more stable world."
China's current challenge, as Beeson noted, is to translate its impressive economic indicators-from its massive GDP to its leadership in technology-into sustained consensus-building for trade liberalization. This would align its national success with the stabilization of the global order that it increasingly seeks to uphold.
Reporter: Guo Zedong
Video: Pan Jiajun
Poster: Lai Meiya
Editor: Yuan Zixiang, James Campion, Shen He, Ou Xiaoming
