China vs. America: Who the World Trades With Most

China vs. America: Who the World Trades With Most

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Twenty-five years ago, the United States was the world’s dominant trading power. Today, China has overtaken America as the top goods trading partner for most countries globally.

This map compares whether countries traded more with the U.S. or China in 2000 and 2025, based on total bilateral imports and exports using International Monetary Fund Direction of Trade Statistics data.

China’s rise was fueled by its emergence as the world’s manufacturing hub and surging demand for commodities like oil, copper, iron ore, and soybeans.

When America Dominated Global Trade

The United States entered the 21st century on a high note. Following the end of the Cold War, liberal democracy and open markets were expanding across the former Soviet bloc, while global trade centered primarily around the U.S. consumer market.

In 2000, only 33 countries traded more with China than the United States. Many of these countries were Chinese neighbors like Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Myanmar, and Vietnam. Others were states with strained or no relations with Washington, including Cuba, Iran, Libya, and North Korea.

This data table lists countries around the world based on whether they traded more with the U.S. or China in 2000 and 2025.

Country	Bigger Trade Partner in 2000	Bigger Trade Partner in 2025
Afghanistan	China	China
Albania	China	China
Algeria	U.S.	China
American Samoa	China	China
Angola	U.S.	China
Anguilla	N/A	U.S.
Antigua and Barbuda	U.S.	U.S.
Argentina	U.S.	China
Armenia	U.S.	China
Aruba	U.S.	U.S.
Australia	U.S.	China
Austria	U.S.	U.S.
Azerbaijan	U.S.	China
Bahrain	U.S.	U.S.
Bangladesh	U.S.	China
Barbados	U.S.	U.S.
Belarus	U.S.	China
Belgium	U.S.	U.S.
Belize	U.S.	U.S.
Benin	China	China
Bermuda	U.S.	U.S.
Bhutan	China	China
Bolivia	U.S.	China
Bosnia and Herzegovina	U.S.	China
Botswana	U.S.	China
Brazil	U.S.	China
Brunei	U.S.	China
Bulgaria	U.S.	China
Burkina Faso	U.S.	China
Burundi	U.S.	China
Cabo Verde	U.S.	China
Cambodia	U.S.	China
Cameroon	U.S.	China
Canada	U.S.	U.S.
Central African Republic	U.S.	China
Chad	U.S.	China
Chile	U.S.	China
Colombia	U.S.	U.S.
Comoros	U.S.	China
Congo Republic	U.S.	China
Costa Rica	U.S.	U.S.
Croatia	U.S.	China
Cuba	China	China
Curaçao	N/A	U.S.
Cyprus	U.S.	China
Czechia	U.S.	China
Côte d’Ivoire	U.S.	China
DRC	U.S.	China
Denmark	U.S.	China
Djibouti	China	China
Dominica	China	U.S.
Dominican Republic	U.S.	U.S.
Ecuador	U.S.	U.S.
Egypt	U.S.	China
El Salvador	U.S.	U.S.
Equatorial Guinea	China	China
Eritrea	U.S.	China
Estonia	U.S.	U.S.
Eswatini	U.S.	U.S.
Ethiopia	U.S.	China
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)	U.S.	U.S.
Faroe Islands	U.S.	U.S.
Fiji	U.S.	China
Finland	U.S.	U.S.
France	U.S.	U.S.
French Polynesia	U.S.	U.S.
Gabon	U.S.	China
Georgia	U.S.	China
Germany	U.S.	U.S.
Ghana	U.S.	China
Gibraltar	China	U.S.
Greece	U.S.	China
Greenland	U.S.	China
Grenada	U.S.	U.S.
Guam	N/A	China
Guatemala	U.S.	U.S.
Guinea	U.S.	China
Guinea-Bissau	China	China
Guyana	U.S.	U.S.
Haiti	U.S.	U.S.
Honduras	U.S.	U.S.
Hong Kong	China	China
Hungary	U.S.	China
Iceland	U.S.	U.S.
India	U.S.	China
Indonesia	U.S.	China
Iran	China	China
Iraq	U.S.	China
Ireland	U.S.	U.S.
Israel	U.S.	U.S.
Italy	U.S.	U.S.
Jamaica	U.S.	U.S.
Japan	U.S.	China
Jordan	U.S.	China
Kazakhstan	China	China
Kenya	U.S.	China
Kiribati	U.S.	China
Kosovo	N/A	U.S.
Kuwait	U.S.	China
Kyrgyzstan	China	China
Laos	China	China
Latvia	U.S.	China
Lebanon	U.S.	China
Lesotho	U.S.	U.S.
Liberia	China	China
Libya	China	China
Lithuania	U.S.	U.S.
Luxembourg	U.S.	U.S.
Macao	U.S.	China
Madagascar	U.S.	China
Malawi	U.S.	China
Malaysia	U.S.	China
Maldives	U.S.	China
Mali	U.S.	China
Malta	U.S.	China
Marshall Islands	N/A	China
Mauritania	China	China
Mauritius	U.S.	China
Mexico	U.S.	U.S.
Micronesia	N/A	China
Moldova	U.S.	China
Mongolia	China	China
Montenegro	N/A	China
Montserrat	N/A	U.S.
Morocco	U.S.	China
Mozambique	U.S.	China
Myanmar	China	China
Namibia	U.S.	China
Nauru	U.S.	China
Nepal	U.S.	China
Netherlands	U.S.	U.S.
New Caledonia	U.S.	China
New Zealand	U.S.	China
Nicaragua	U.S.	U.S.
Niger	U.S.	China
Nigeria	U.S.	China
North Korea	China	China
North Macedonia	U.S.	China
Norway	U.S.	China
Oman	China	China
Pakistan	U.S.	China
Palau	China	China
Palestine	U.S.	China
Panama	U.S.	China
Papua New Guinea	China	China
Paraguay	U.S.	U.S.
Peru	U.S.	China
Philippines	U.S.	China
Poland	U.S.	China
Portugal	U.S.	China
Qatar	U.S.	China
Romania	U.S.	China
Russia	U.S.	China
Rwanda	U.S.	China
Samoa	U.S.	China
San Marino	N/A	U.S.
Saudi Arabia	U.S.	China
Senegal	U.S.	China
Serbia	N/A	China
Seychelles	U.S.	China
Sierra Leone	U.S.	China
Singapore	U.S.	China
Sint Maarten	N/A	U.S.
Slovakia	U.S.	China
Slovenia	U.S.	China
Solomon Islands	China	China
Somalia	U.S.	China
South Africa	U.S.	China
South Korea	U.S.	China
South Sudan	N/A	China
Spain	U.S.	China
Sri Lanka	U.S.	China
St. Kitts and Nevis	U.S.	U.S.
St. Lucia	U.S.	U.S.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines	U.S.	U.S.
Sudan	China	China
Suriname	U.S.	China
Sweden	U.S.	U.S.
Switzerland	U.S.	U.S.
Syria	U.S.	China
São Tomé and Príncipe	U.S.	China
Taiwan	U.S.	China
Tajikistan	U.S.	China
Tanzania	China	China
Thailand	U.S.	China
The Bahamas	U.S.	U.S.
The Gambia	China	China
Timor-Leste	N/A	China
Togo	China	China
Tonga	U.S.	China
Trinidad and Tobago	U.S.	U.S.
Tunisia	U.S.	China
Turkmenistan	U.S.	China
Tuvalu	N/A	China
Türkiye	U.S.	China
Uganda	U.S.	China
Ukraine	U.S.	China
United Arab Emirates	U.S.	China
United Kingdom	U.S.	U.S.
Uruguay	U.S.	China
Uzbekistan	U.S.	China
Vanuatu	U.S.	China
Vatican City	N/A	U.S.
Venezuela	U.S.	U.S.
Vietnam	China	China
Yemen	China	China
Zambia	China	China
Zimbabwe	U.S.	China

Everything began to shift during the 2000s as China opened further to the world economy, highlighted by the country’s 2001 accession to the World Trade Organization. Alongside domestic economic reforms, WTO membership accelerated China’s rise as a global manufacturing powerhouse.

Over the years that followed, China became the top trading partner of major emerging markets including Brazil and Russia. Its cheaper manufacturing boosted exports worldwide, while its growing demand for key commodities fueled growth across developing economies.

Commodities Boom and Manufacturing Powerhouse

The commodities boom of the 2000s and early 2010s helped solidify China’s central role in the global economy. By 2012, it had become the world’s second-largest economy while lifting many of its trading partners’ fortunes along the way.

Soaring Chinese demand for commodities like iron ore, soybeans, copper, and oil benefited many countries across the Global South that were rich in natural resources. Brazil, Iran, Nigeria, and Russia were among the many developing economies to benefit from rising commodity prices.

At the same time, Chinese manufacturing became the lower-cost alternative for firms across North America, Western Europe, and East Asia. Factories increasingly offshored production to China, while consumers benefited from cheaper goods.

China’s Global Trade Expansion

By 2025, China had become the dominant trade partner across much of Asia, Africa, South America, and the Middle East. All of South America’s major economies except Colombia and Venezuela now trade more with Beijing than Washington, while only two African countries, Lesotho and Eswatini, still trade more with the United States.

The U.S. maintains a dominant position across much of North America, but Israel is the only major economy in the Middle East or Indo-Pacific that still trades more with Washington than Beijing.

Meanwhile, Europe remains split down the middle. France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom still trade more with the U.S., while countries including Poland and Spain have deepened their trade ties with China.

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• Source: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/mapped-chinas-global-trade-takeover/