Wei Jianguo: Chinese Companies Going Global Reshape the Global Economic and Trade Landscape

What does the overseas expansion of technology standards mean for China’s participation in global rule-making?

On March 24, Wei Jianguo, former Vice Minister of Commerce, stated at the 2026 Global South Financial Forum’s parallel session on “New Opportunities and New Challenges: The Corporate Overseas Route Map under the Restructuring of Global Patterns” that the wave of Chinese companies going overseas is not simply a market expansion, but a breakthrough for China’s manufacturing industry. It is a technological innovation led by China that challenges the old rules and standards of globalization, reshaping the global economic and trade landscape.

Wei Jianguo indicated that the overseas expansion of Chinese enterprises has achieved four remarkable historical leaps: Chinese companies have made a fundamental shift from product export to brand export, from OEM production to self-owned brand exports, and from leading in sales to leading in quality, with a large number of Chinese brands entering the global high-end market; Chinese enterprises have completed the preliminary leap from capacity expansion overseas to the export of technology and standards, with technologies and standards in 5G, new energy, and digital payments going global, transforming from “followers” to participants and makers of rules; Chinese companies have also transitioned from a single-point layout to cluster expansion, shifting from individual factories and projects to industrial chain clusters, supply chain collaboration, and localized operations, with increasing acceptance of “Chinese technology + global creation + local service” in various countries; the overseas expansion of Chinese enterprises has completed the leap from policy promotion to institutional protection. In February 2026, the national-level comprehensive overseas service platform officially went live, providing all-encompassing one-stop services for 52,000 overseas enterprises and hundreds of thousands of foreign trade entities, moving overseas expansion into a new phase characterized by specialization, institutionalization, controllable risks, and financial support.

Looking to the future, Wei Jianguo believes that the overseas expansion of Chinese enterprises will define a new round of globalization, with encouraging three major prospects for the global economic and trade landscape.

First, the global economic and trade map will become more equitable, balanced, and inclusive. Global cooperation will form a multi-centered, grid-like, and resilient economic and trade system, narrowing the development gap between the North and South, and shifting global trade from being “dominated by developed countries” to North-South collaboration and mutual benefit.

Second, global industrial chains will reach new heights in green and digital development. China’s new energy, digital technology, and artificial intelligence are actively expanding overseas, driving global industries towards low-carbon, digital, and intelligent transformation. In the next 5 to 10 years, green manufacturing and digital services will become China’s new calling card in globalization, leading a new round of global industrial change.

Finally, Chinese multinational companies are expected to become world-class. In the future, a large number of Chinese companies will become leaders in global value chains, with multinational indices continuously rising, and overseas assets, revenues, and talent distribution becoming more balanced, achieving an upgrade from “serving the world from China” to “serving the world for the world.” Chinese wisdom and Chinese solutions will enrich the new connotations of globalization.

“We have reason to believe that with the in-depth implementation of the 14th Five-Year Plan and the continuous advancement of high-level opening up, the overseas expansion of Chinese enterprises will change the global economic and trade landscape and inject strong Chinese momentum into the development of the world economy. From participants to leaders, from ‘going out’ to ‘going in,’ Chinese enterprises are writing their own new chapter in globalization,” said Wei Jianguo.