China's dependence on the West for imports and technologies

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.