SHANGHAI: There’s something for everyone at the China International Import Expo in Shanghai: American soybeans, German fountain pens, vitamins from Canada, camera lenses from Japan, blueberries from Zimbabwe.
Ultimately, what’s on display is the world’s desire for a slice of the market in China’s US$21 trillion economy – a notoriously big ask, especially when it comes to manufactured goods.
How do you sell to a country that already produces almost everything, and is rapidly figuring out how to make the rest?
That’s one aspect of the trade tensions around China’s giant surplus.
The United States and Europe said China floods the world with exports that threaten local producers, while not offering enough of a market in return.
Beijing countered that it’s eager for imports and would buy more, if it wasn’t for the curbs on high-tech goods that partners have imposed.
Chinese imports surged last month, though that’s largely down to soaring prices for energy and artificial intelligence chips, and the 2026 trade gap still passed US$1 trillion with two months left.
As politicians wrangle and economists crunch numbers, the 4,000-plus companies that showed up in Shanghai have their eye on business.
Bloomberg News spoke to more than a dozen executives, sales reps and diplomats at the five-day event, which wrapped up on Tuesday. Most said that tapping China, with its 1.4 billion population, is essential.
And there was broad consensus that it can be done – but it’s getting harder.
Chinese demand is subdued and sellers can no longer rely on international names. They increasingly need an edge, in technology or craftsmanship, that local rivals can’t easily replicate.
China’s production of water heaters has been on the rise, but Zhang Huiqiang – who manages the Guangzhou operations for Japanese manufacturer Rinnai Corp – still imports premium lines from Japan.
Chinese factories can’t make them yet, he said. And as China has gotten richer, and large homes became more widespread, there’s more demand for the specialised features such machines offer.
Precise temperature control for filling bathtubs, for example, is especially important for older people and children.
Precision is key to the demand for Nikon Corp’s photo equipment too.
The firm is catering to a narrower market nowadays, thanks to competition from smartphones and DJI’s action cameras.
But its premium interchangeable-lens systems still appeal to dedicated photographers, and it’s an area where Chinese rivals have yet to close the gap.
Japan is still ahead in core precision optics, sensor technology and nanometre- level manufacturing, according to Nikon staffer Zhang Chenhao.
China’s two-speed economy is at the heart of trade debates.
It’s increasingly powered by exports while households tighten their belts, spurring calls for decisive steps from Beijing to shift the balance. — Bloomberg
