How dependent is Belgium on China?

A product has a dominant supplier when a single country sells more than 50% of what is bought of it; we flag it separately above 75%.

• China sells 31% of what the world exports of cargo and cruise ships; next come South Korea (29.6%), Japan (10.9%) and India (3.1%). The rest of the world exported 177.1 times what Belgium buys from China.
• China sells 39.2% of what the world exports of diodes, transistors and solar cells; next come Malaysia (8.6%), Japan (7.4%) and Vietnam (5.9%). The rest of the world exported 328 times what Belgium buys from China.
• China sells 50.9% of what the world exports of fishing gear; next come Japan (9.7%), Malaysia (5.6%) and Vietnam (4.8%). The rest of the world exported 60.6 times what Belgium buys from China.
• China sells 91% of what the world exports of artificial flowers and foliage; next come Netherlands (1.6%), Germany (1.1%) and Poland (0.55%). The rest of the world exported 15.1 times what Belgium buys from China.
• China sells 68.6% of what the world exports of rayon fabric; next come Turkey (8.1%), Italy (6.2%) and Spain (3.8%). The rest of the world exported 174 times what Belgium buys from China.
• China sells 26.7% of what the world exports of wool grease and lanolin; next come United Kingdom (17.5%), Japan (10.6%) and Germany (7.7%). The rest of the world exported 20.8 times what Belgium buys from China.
• China sells 52.9% of what the world exports of dust and powder of precious and semi-precious stones; next come United States (10.7%), Ireland (9%) and South Korea (5.6%). The rest of the world exported 35.3 times what Belgium buys from China.
• China sells 80.4% of what the world exports of knitted plush and terry fabric; next come Malaysia (3.6%), South Korea (2.4%) and Taiwan (1.5%). The rest of the world exported 278.7 times what Belgium buys from China.
• China sells 57.8% of what the world exports of tailors' dummies and animated shop-window displays; next come Italy (6.5%), Mexico (4.5%) and Spain (4.1%). The rest of the world exported 53.3 times what Belgium buys from China.
• China sells 23.7% of what the world exports of hard rubber (ebonite) and articles thereof; next come Thailand (8.2%), Taiwan (6.9%) and Canada (6.8%). The rest of the world exported 59.9 times what Belgium buys from China.

Exports from the rest of the world already have buyers; the figure shows scale, not availability.

Belgium is China’s 40th-largest customer, with 0.4% of its exports.

• Trade between Belgium and China
• Who does Belgium rely on?
• Who does China rely on?
• Dependence of Belgium on the Netherlands
• Dependence of Belgium on France
• Dependence of Belgium on Ireland
• Dependence of Belgium on Germany
• Dependence of Belgium on Sweden
• Dependence of Belgium on the United States
• Dependence of Belgium on Russia
• Trade profile of Belgium
• Trade profile of China
• All countries

Sources and licenses

• CEPII BACI · Licence Ouverte Etalab 2.0
• Natural Earth · Public domain

Methodology

The data come from CEPII BACI (Etalab 2.0 licence), which reconciles what the exporting and the importing country report, in current USD, FOB. Data up to 2024.

Dependence is the share of a country’s imports (or exports) that each partner accounts for. It does not measure whether a product has a substitute or how much it would cost to change supplier.

The concentration index (HHI) adds up the square of each partner’s share, in percent: it runs from 0 to 10,000. Its equivalent is 10,000 ÷ HHI, the number of partners of the same size that would give that value.

Products are HS4 headings of the 1992 nomenclature (some combine different goods), with a floor of $1 million per product and country.

The EU is the 27 current members in every year; the United Kingdom is outside the EU throughout the series.

Re-exports: countries that act as redistribution hubs carry their notice and the figures are not corrected.