SwedCham China Insights for the week of December 1 - December 5, 2025

Macron’s 4th China visit underscores strategic autonomy and deepens economic ties

On 4 December, French President Emmanuel Macron held wide-ranging talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang in Beijing during his three-day state visit to China, his fourth as president. The two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to multilateralism, pledged to deepen economic cooperation, and signed 12 agreements covering nuclear energy, agriculture, AI governance, education, and panda conservation. Xi emphasized China’s readiness to expand imports of French goods and encouraged more French investment in China, while urging a fair and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese businesses in France. Macron, accompanied by top French executives, welcomed increased market access for French agricultural products and pressed Xi to use China’s influence with Russia to support a Ukraine ceasefire, calling the war a “vital threat to European security.”

Following the bilateral talks, Xi and Macron jointly attended and delivered speeches at the 7th meeting of the China-France Business Council, which brought together around 150 senior business leaders from both countries. In his remarks, Xi called on both sides to expand cooperation in new sectors such as AI, biopharmaceuticals, the silver economy, and green technologies, while ensuring a fair, transparent, and predictable environment for foreign businesses. Macron echoed the sentiments, describing the Council’s role as vital in navigating global imbalances and establishing a more balanced economic relationship. Macron encouraged Chinese companies to expand operations in France and expressed hope that joint ventures in Europe could be deepened, especially in less sensitive industries.

Macron’s three-day state-visit to China reflects France’s pursuit of strategic autonomy amid rising global tensions and EU-China trade frictions. While the visit generated symbolic gestures and forward-looking rhetoric, the depth of future cooperation will hinge on broader EU policy shifts and Beijing’s responsiveness to European concerns on market access, government-subsidized industrial policies, and China’s geopolitical alignment with Russia.

China targets trillion-yuan consumer sectors by 2027 with expanded product supply and new retail models

On 26 November, China’s industrial regulator (MIIT), the macro planner (NDRC), along with four other central government agencies jointly released a policy blueprint aimed at boosting domestic consumption. The plan sets a 2027 target to cultivate three consumption sectors with annual output exceeding one trillion yuan, and ten additional segments exceeding 100 billion yuan. Ten key product categories are prioritized, including green products, rural goods, sports and health items, heritage brands, hobby-related goods, baby and student products, trendy fashion, and elderly-friendly items. The policy urges efforts on supporting green consumption, upgrading rural supply chains, expanding sports and health-related R&D, and promoting historical and culturally significant products through tax incentives.

The policy also emphasizes building new consumption scenarios, such as first-launch retail, platform-driven consumption, and shared consumption models, and encourages innovation in livestreaming, IP-based product development, and niche recreational markets like low-altitude tourism and car modifications. The policy follows signs of weakening consumption momentum, with October retail sales growth slowing to 2.9% y/y, although online retail continues to outperform, growing 9.6% y/y in the first ten months of 2025.

This policy signals the government is now shifting from demand-side stimulus to supply-side optimization, targeting structural upgrades in consumption with a focus on domestic innovation, rural inclusion, and platform ecosystems. 

Chinese sellers surge on Latin America’s largest e-commerce platform

On 3 December, Latin America’s largest e-commerce platform Mercado Libre reported that the number of Chinese sellers on its platform has grown by triple digits over the past two years. Starting in 2025, the company has fully opened registration to Chinese cross-border sellers and introduced multiple fulfillment models, including direct shipping and warehousing. The shift comes amid a sharp increase in inquiries from Chinese sellers since mid-2025, partly driven by the rollback of US de minimis tariff exemptions under Donald Trump’s second presidency. Brazil, Mercado Libre’s largest market, has seen e-commerce sales rise 26.4% y/y to USD 6.41 billion in the first nine months of 2025, driven by increased logistics investment, promotional campaigns, and new consumer acquisition.

Chinese sellers’ rapid entry into Brazil through Mercado Libre reflects both a strategic diversification from US markets and the growing alignment between China’s supply chain capabilities and Brazil’s underserved consumer segments. Nevertheless, navigating Brazil’s complex tax system, language barriers, and logistics inefficiencies remains significant hurdles for Chinese companies.

Chinese tech firms deepen footprint in Dubai Internet City beyond regional headquarters

On 1 December, Ammar Al Malik, managing director of Dubai Internet City, revealed that an increasing number of Chinese tech companies, including Huawei, Alibaba Cloud, China Mobile, Tencent Games, and Baidu Apollo, are shifting from simply establishing regional headquarters in the zone to actively developing Middle East-tailored products and setting up R&D centers. Dubai Internet City, launched in 2000 as the region’s first tech-focused free zone, now accounts for 65% of Dubai’s tech-sector GDP. The zone, operated by state-owned TECOM Group, supports incoming firms with one-stop services and integrates them into a broader ecosystem that includes large multinational corporations, small startups, and universities.

Chinese tech firms are actively expanding market presence in Dubai Internet City to localize innovation-centered operations in the zone, highlighting the UAE’s growing role as a regional tech hub. This trend underscores the fact that Sino-Gulf collaboration in expanding into high-tech sectors.