For many years, Yiwu has served as China's gateway to international trade. Located in the eastern province of Zhejiang, the city is host to a massive wholesale market that links Chinese manufacturers with customers around the world.
The export hub is now planning to reverse its strategy and redirect its efforts towards assisting foreign products in finding a market in China.
China is taking steps to reduce its ongoing trade surplus in response to increased pressure from the United States and other countries.
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Wang Hao, the Communist Party secretary of Zhejiang province, recently informed local officials that Yiwu had historically been renowned for exporting to the world, but now must undertake a new mission of sourcing from the world.
Experts suggest that Yiwu's new policy may indicate a shift in China's trade strategy, possibly aimed at easing tensions with its key trading partners by increasing imports.
"No business relationship can be maintained if one party benefits at the expense of all others," said Zhou Dewen, the head of an association representing small- and medium-sized enterprises in Zhejiang.
It is advisable to promote imports in order to establish a more balanced trade pattern.
Yiwu has become a vital hub in the global supply chain, as its massive wholesale market facilitates connections between traders and factories across China's eastern manufacturing region.
International trade in the city reached 668.9 billion yuan (US$91.8 billion) in 2024, up 18.2 percent year over year, according to official data.
The trade is almost exclusively one-way, with exports making up over 88 percent of the total. The city's imports were less than 80 billion yuan last year.
"For Yiwu, expanding imports is not about fulfilling local needs, but positioning itself as a key import gateway for the entire national market," Zhou said.
He stated that Yiwu needs to discover new growth drivers for its local economy, as weak domestic demand and increasing trade tensions are impacting its traditional business of distributing affordable products.
China's State Council, the country's cabinet, has approved a plan submitted by Zhejiang's provincial government earlier this month, which includes promoting imports as one of its goals for developing Yiwu.
The city aims to accomplish this by simplifying customs clearance procedures, accepting more foreign product testing certifications, boosting its capacity to inspect imported drugs, and enabling parallel imports of household goods.
Yiwu is also developing a logistics center to facilitate the processing of goods arriving through the China-Europe rail link and the nearby Ningbo-Zhoushan Port.
China's growing trade deficit has been a point of contention with the US for several years, particularly during President Donald Trump's first term in office.
In the previous year, the country recorded a trade surplus of $992.1 billion, marking a 20.7 percent increase from the same period in the previous year.
Chinese Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang reaffirmed China's intention to increase imports during his address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in late January.
"We do not pursue a trade surplus. Our goal is to import more competitive and high-quality goods and services to promote a balanced trade arrangement," he stated, without mentioning the countries or regions from which those imports would originate.
On February 4, the United States increased tariffs on Chinese goods by 10 percent, prompting China to respond with a series of retaliatory measures, including duties of 10-15 percent on various American imports.
Several other countries have launched anti-dumping and countervailing investigations into Chinese products as well.
Mexico, which is also confronting US tariff threats, has committed to replacing Chinese goods with products made domestically or elsewhere in North America.
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This article was first published in the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), a leading news source providing coverage of China and Asia news.
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