Manufacturing exports in China move further into global supply chains

China's exports have undergone a long-term shift in emphasis from consumer goods (with their labor-intensive manufacturing) to technology-intensive and higher-value-added products -- especially the "intermediate goods" embedded in global supply chains.

Newly added export data (based on the 6-digit HS codes) on the CEIC platform lets us track this megatrend by aggregating different sectors into three broad categories.

As of June 2025, intermediate goods (inputs used in the production of other goods or services) had risen to 46% of exports, while capital goods and consumer goods accounted for 23% and 31%, respectively. (In early 2015, those figures were 42%, 21% and 37% respectively.)

Our second chart zeroes in on capital goods, a category that includes machinery and vehicles. This category was relatively more disrupted during the pandemic (exports of goods such as consumer electronics, by contrast, remained robust). The capital-goods rebound has been driven by the post-2022 reconstruction of global supply chains (intertwined with China's Belt and Road initiative for international infrastructure) and international economic recovery more generally.

Our third chart identifies how individual industries overlap with our three broad categories. Most textile exports, for instance, consist of finished apparel destined for consumers, but some textiles are intermediate goods exported to manufacturers of other products.

The "machinery and appliances" sector is split between all three categories. Meanwhile, exports of chemicals, plastics, and base metals are primarily as intermediate goods.

These charts were based on the Broad Economic Categories (BECs), an international standard, and their corresponding HS (harmonized system) codes. 

Click here to read about Broad Economic Categories (BECs)