Economy
Chinese Leadership in Global Trade as an Additional Cause of Western Regimes’ Rage
The colossal progress made by the People’s Republic of China in the first quarter of the 21st century is yet another example of why the regimes of the Western planetary minority react with rage to the processes of multipolar world-building, especially highlighting the geoeconomic dimension of these developments.
China’s Great Achievements Over the Past 24 Years
Today, China is not only the world’s leading economy in terms of GDP calculated by purchasing power parity (PPP) — where it is pulling further ahead of the United States — but also a foundational force in global trade and international supply chains.
According to cartographic analysis by Econovis on global trade leadership among the US, EU, and China, the path China has taken is truly impressive. As this analysis notes: in 2000, the US was the largest trading partner for most countries in North and South America, several major Asia-Pacific economies, and some African nations. The EU dominated trade with much of Europe, large parts of Africa and Asia, as well as a considerable portion of South America. China, by contrast, was the top trading partner only for a few smaller economies, including Myanmar, Mongolia, North Korea, Oman, Sudan, and Yemen.
By 2024, China’s trade presence had expanded significantly, becoming the largest trading partner for almost all of Asia, much of Africa, and most of South America. The US maintained dominance in North America and a few South American countries. The EU remained the leading partner for most of Europe, North Africa, and nearby regions, but its global footprint shrank in comparison to China. China’s total trade volume rose from USD 474 billion in 2000 to USD 6.2 trillion in 2024, surpassing both the US and the EU and becoming the world’s leading trading power.
In fact, the published cartography speaks for itself — China’s reach as a primary trade and economic partner clearly encompasses the majority of the world’s countries, not only in terms of sheer numbers, but also in terms of demographic weight. In other words, it represents the global majority.
Another map by Econovis, comparing only the US and China, paints an even more impressive picture in China’s favor. As this cartographic analysis further notes: in 2000, the US had a trade volume of USD 2.0 trillion — more than four times China’s USD 474 billion. At that time, China was the main trading partner for only a handful of countries, including Cuba, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, Mongolia, North Korea, Oman, Sudan, Tanzania, and Vietnam.
From 2000 to 2024, US trade volume grew by 167% (an average annual growth rate of 4.2%), while China’s trade surged by 1200% (average annual growth rate of 11.3%), overtaking the US by 2012. By 2024, total trade volume had reached USD 5.3 trillion for the US and USD 6.2 trillion for China.
Currently, China is the leading trading partner (compared to the US) for most countries in Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Oceania, South America, and Africa. Looking ahead, North America, Europe (excluding Russia), North Africa, and India will likely (according to Econovis) strengthen their mutual trade ties, while China will deepen its connections with developing markets — importing fuel, minerals, and agricultural products, and exporting finished goods.
The West’s Geoeconomic Defeat
In reality, Western — specifically US — analysts overlook the fact that the achievements China has reached over the past 24 years are far from the limits of China’s potential. On the contrary, everything indicates that these achievements will continue to grow in China’s favor, including in those few remaining non-Western regions where the West still holds some leading positions — such as North Africa, parts of West and Central Africa, parts of Latin America, and a few scattered countries across Eurasia.
These facts and projections, by the way, clearly explain additional reasons for the rage of the regimes that make up the Western planetary minority — both the Washington establishment and its vassals in Brussels. Hence the threats and attempts at tariff wars from the US, commercial restrictions and sanctions from EU countries, and various efforts to destabilize the main forces and supporters of the multipolar contemporary world.
This also explains the West’s hysteria over its failure to drive a wedge between China and Russia and vice versa, and its hostility toward the complementarity between Beijing and Moscow — including in Africa — as global influence shifts toward international structures like BRICS. And of course, this rage extends to the rising voice of the Global South, especially among those countries unwilling to accept any return of Western dominance over the majority of humankind.
All of this once again confirms that the rage of Western regimes undeniably has geoeconomic roots. Naturally, the collective West finds it extremely difficult to come to terms with the fact that, as a global minority, it long dominated every major global process — only now to be confronted with increasing isolation and relegation to the role of the planetary minority it actually is. In their state of hysteria, Western regimes refuse to acknowledge this reality. And yet, they will have to.
Mikhail Gamandiy-Egorov, Entrepreneur, political analyst, expert on Africa and the Middle East
