China to overtake the US as the largest trading nation in the world by 2025

Chinese trade volume is expected to grow an amazing 146% in 14 years’ time.

China is set to overtake the U.S. as the largest trading nation in the world by 2025, accounting for 13% of global trade, according to a new quarterly report, HSBC Trade Forecast.

Chinese trade volume is expected to grow 146% by the end of 2025, while trade is predicted to grow about four times faster than the global rate from now until 2015, the study shows.

A partner survey of international traders, the HSBC Trade Confidence Index, shows that while sentiment among China’s traders fell to a neutral level from six months earlier, nearly 80% of Chinese importers and exporters still expect stable or increased trade volumes.

Hong Kong’s role as a leading trade route between Mainland China and the rest of the world will ensure the city sustains its current share of world trade (2.9%) in 2025, ahead of the U.K., South Korea and Singapore, according to HSBC Trade Forecast.

Even as Hong Kong traders are the most cautious in Asia over the short-term, nearly 75% of those polled expect import-export volumes to stay the same or to rise in the coming half-year, the HSBC Trade Confidence Index shows.

Albert Chan, HSBC’s Head of Commercial Banking, Hong Kong, said: “Hong Kong and Mainland China are well positioned to benefit from robust growth in world trade in coming years. While short-term uncertainty has dampened confidence, the Asian region is expected to drive trade growth in the longer-term.”

Despite the current climate of economic uncertainty, world trade volumes are expected to grow 73% by 2025 and international trade activity will expand, on average, by just under $1trillion1 a year between now and 2015, according to research commissioned by HSBC.

The people you want to reach are already in this room.

Every quarter, SBR lands on the desks of the founders, CFOs, and directors running Asia's most consequential companies. Every day, they open our newsletter and read our website. It's a room that took twenty years to build — and it's the one most of our partners are trying to get into.

The good news is that the door is open. We work with companies on thought leadership articles, sponsored content, industry summits across Southeast Asia, regional awards programmes, podcasts, and media placements in print and digital. The shape of the right partnership depends on what you're trying to do, which is why we'd rather start with a conversation than send a rate card.

If you have something this room should know about, tell us. We'll tell you honestly whether we can help, and how.

No rate cards until we understand the brief. It's a better use of everyone's time.

Book a meeting

| Or download the media kit (PDF)

240,000 senior readers quarterly in print Top 1,700 Singapore companies reached

7 markets across Southeast Asia