According to a forecast published by China Briefing, a regional Asian journal, China will account for roughly 30% of global manufacturing value in 2023, reinforcing the country’s status as a manufacturing powerhouse.
The manufacturing industry is a pillar of China’s economy, with added value accounting for 26.2% of total GDP in 2023. In its 2024-25 Manufacturing Tracker, China Briefing reported that manufacturing GDP reached $2.34 billion in the first half of 2024 (H1’24), rising 6.3 percent from the same period in 2023 and accounting for around 27 percent of overall GDP.
“Despite a gradual shift towards a more service-oriented and high-tech economy, manufacturing remains a key driver of China’s economic growth, providing substantial employment, innovation, and export revenue,” says the research.
According to figures from the World Bank and China’s General Administration of Customs, manufacturing exports account for more than 90% of overall Chinese exports.
“In 2023, China exported about $3.68 trillion worth of manufacturing products, while total goods exported amounted to about $3.71 trillion, with manufacturing products accounting for 98 percent of the total,” the analysis showed. In this setting, manufacturing exports make for a greater proportion of total industrial exports.
This finding is essentially the result of agricultural exports being excluded from the total goods trade. China has around 2,000 industry clusters, which are locations where firms and industries come together to promote collaboration and rivalry.
These clusters often concentrate on specialised industries like electronics, textiles, automotive manufacture, and aviation, among others.
