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Simon Gerards Iglesias / Jürgen Matthes IW-Report No. 15 6. March 2023 China's dependence on the West for imports and technologies

There are mutual dependencies between China and the West that have the potential to result in high economic costs for both sides in the event of a geopolitical conflict. Should China actually plan an invasion of Taiwan, the West would be considerably affected by likely reciprocal sanctions, but due to its important position as a supplier of important goods for China, it would by no means be unable to act.

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China's dependence on the West for imports and technologies
Simon Gerards Iglesias / Jürgen Matthes IW-Report No. 15 6. March 2023

China's dependence on the West for imports and technologies

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German Economic Institute (IW) German Economic Institute (IW)

There are mutual dependencies between China and the West that have the potential to result in high economic costs for both sides in the event of a geopolitical conflict. Should China actually plan an invasion of Taiwan, the West would be considerably affected by likely reciprocal sanctions, but due to its important position as a supplier of important goods for China, it would by no means be unable to act.


The West's share of Chinese goods imports in 2021 was 53 per cent and worth 1.25 trillion euros. The Western share is at high or very high levels for many important key products such as machinery, highly specialised instruments and semiconductors. The shares of the West and Taiwan of the most important Chinese import product - semiconductors - is 68 per cent. But the West also accounts for a high share of over 90 per cent of China's imports of other important import goods, such as some foodstuffs like meat and grain, certain raw materials like iron ore and gold, and also some luxury products like perfume. China also has the highest import/export ratios for raw materials and foodstuffs, i.e. it imports significantly more than it exports. These are about 60 to 1 for ores, 36 to 1 for meat and 18 to 1 for grain.  

The analysis of China's dependencies on the West is important because it contributes to a more differentiated view of mutual dependencies with regard to China. In addition, the results provide initial indications of where potential threats to Western trade sanctions might lie in the event of a geopolitical conflict.

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China's dependence on the West for imports and technologies
Simon Gerards Iglesias / Jürgen Matthes IW-Report No. 15 6. March 2023

China's dependence on the West for imports and technologies

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German Economic Institute (IW) German Economic Institute (IW)

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