China Wants to Be World's Market, Not Only Factory
By Reuters | 20 Jan, 2026

China will leverage its "mega-sized market" to "more vigorously" expand imports, Vice Premier He Lifeng told the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland.

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng speaks during the 56th annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland, January 20, 2026. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

China never deliberately pursued a trade surplus and is willing to be "the world's market", Vice Premier He Lifeng told the World Economic Forum on Tuesday, after the manufacturing giant logged a record surplus that will further unnerve its trade partners.

China is willing to leverage the advantage from its "mega-sized market" and "more vigorously" expand imports, He said at the WEF's annual meeting in the Swiss ski resort Davos.

"We are not only willing to be the world's factory, but also, more eagerly, to be the world's market," He said. 

Resilient goods exports last year helped the world's second-largest economy weather challenges from U.S. President Donald Trump's erratic trade policies and lukewarm demand at home.

But they have also created endemic production overcapacity and could prompt more protectionist pushback from countries that seek to strengthen their own manufacturing sectors.

Vice Premier He is leading a Chinese government delegation to this week's WEF summit, where some 2,900 delegates include various heads of state, including Trump, as well as top tech and financial executives.

He, the third-highest-ranking Chinese official to mingle with international business and political leaders at the Davos summit since President Xi Jinping's attendance in 2017, will also host a reception with global business leaders, a source told Reuters.

He's Chinese delegation is expected to present China as a reliable trade and investment partner at a time when Washington's erratic and coercive tariff policies have unsettled both rivals and allies. 

"China is all countries' trading partner rather than an adversary, and China's development is an opportunity rather than a threat to global economic development," He said in his WEF address. 

(Reporting by Selena Li in Davos; Ethan Wang, Yukun Zhang and Ryan Woo in Beijing; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Gareth Jones)