China Investment: Beijing’s Stability & Free Market Pledge

Today’s headlines:

• Beijing promises foreign investment and free markets
• Surge in rail freight transport between China and Europe
• China wants to stock up on strategic mineral resources to circumvent international shocks
• China, Chongqing mayor under investigation for corruption
• China, meeting between Wang Huning and Graham Allison in Beijing
• China, fears in Asia over export restrictions on jet fuel and fertilizers
• Taiwan will miss a WTO meeting over a dispute with Cameroon

China still focuses on foreign investment and free markets

The Chinese Minister of Commerce on Friday 20 March Wang Wentao met the CEO of Apple in Beijing, Tim Cookin a conversation which as usual remained on a very cordial tone. Cook highlighted the importance of the Chinese market and supply chain for Applewho shortly after the meeting announced that they had made a new one donation to the China Development Research Foundation to “support youth employment and vocational training in less developed regions” of the People’s Republic. Also on Friday, Wang also welcomed David RicksCEO of the US pharmaceutical giant Eli Lillywhich on March 11 committed to investing $3 billion in China over the next ten years to expand its supply chain and open drug manufacturing centers in the country.

Beijing is trying to create a more favorable environment for foreign investments and, according to the Global Times, reforms in this sense are expected to be made official within this year, as envisaged by the recently approved 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030). Cook and Ricks were among 97 senior foreign business leaders invited to the China Development Forum (23-24 March), inaugurated on Sunday with a speech by the Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang. Li said that “protectionism is not the panacea for all ills” and that China wants to work to become a “protectionismbeacon of stability for the world“However, note the absence of Japanese CEOs at the event, which was deserted due to the recent diplomatic tensions between Tokyo and Beijing.

China, meeting between Wang Huning and Graham Allison in Beijing

March 20th Wang Huningone of the highest-ranking figures within the CCP, met in Beijing Graham Allisona well-known American political scientist who long served US presidents as Assistant Secretary of Defense, and today a professor at Harvard. Wang said that relations between Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump are good and that “China will respond to the evolving international situation with the certainty provided by its own development”, also underlining that the Taiwanese question it is the “hub of the fundamental interests of the People’s Republic”. The two then agreed that it is important that Washington and Beijing can strengthen the dialogue to manage their differences and keep bilateral relations stable.

Surge in rail freight transport between China and Europe

In the first two months of 2026 the number of freight train travel between China and Europe it increased by 31.7% compared to the same period last year, marking a surge after years of stagnant growth (in 2025 the number of total trips had grown by 3.2% compared to 2024). As reported by Caixin, the rapid increase is likely due to shipping uncertainties caused by the crisis in West Asiagiven the strong tensions recorded even before the start of the war in Iran. Added to this is the recovery of intense trade between China and Russiawhich account for almost 80% of all recorded train journeys. Between January and February, 3,501 freight trains traveled between China and Europe, and industry experts expect further growth in demand in the coming months, while shipping prices are already rising.

China wants to stock up on strategic mineral resources to circumvent international shocks

China has no intention of being caught unprepared in the face of geopolitical uncertainties, and for this reason it has raised the internal supply and storage of essential mineral resources to a matter of national security. As reported by the South China Morning Post, the 15th Five-Year Plan 2026-2030, officially approved during the Two Sessions, places as a priority the “security of strategic materials“, now placed on the same level as energy and food security. Beijing wants to strengthen the supply chain by addressing its “weak points”, i.e. effectively reducing its dependence on foreign technologies and companies with regards to “key products”.

While this will lead to a diversification of foreign partners (especially Africans) for some critical raw materials, such as crude oil, iron and copper, on the other hand the People’s Republic “will intensify efforts aimed at identifying, developing and build stocks of strategic mineral resources“, exploiting its dominance in the rare earth supply chain. The concrete effects of this approach can be seen in the limitations placed in recent months on the export of various key metals such as gallium, germanium and antimony.

According to data for January and February, China has also drastically reduced exports of rare earth permanent magnets to the United States (-22.5% compared to the same period of 2025), although shipments to the European Union increased (+28.4%). The trend – which has been continuing for months – is forcing Washington to make agreements with friendly countries such as Japan and Australia to bypass the Chinese supply chain, which however will remain central to the international market for a long time.

China, fears in Asia over export restrictions on jet fuel and fertilizers

According to the Financial Times, in recent days the Chinese National Reform and Development Commission (NDRC) told the manufacturing companies to fertilizers to limit exports to a number of countries in response to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. The measure follows similar restrictions placed at the beginning of March on the sale of diesel and jet fuelof which China is the sixth largest exporter in the world (while it is the second largest exporter of fertilizers in the world). According to analysts, the fact that the NDRC did not publicly announce the measures demonstrates a certain haste on the part of the Chinese leadership, intent on protect their stocks and protect the internal market from the crisis in West Asia.

However, Beijing’s decision is generating apprehension among the various Asian countries that depend on the People’s Republic in those sectors, with some states being more affected than others. Financial Times sources report for example that sales of fertilizers toIndia would have been completely blocked, while Beijing would have guaranteed that at least part of the supplies continue to flow to the countries Southeast Asian. Restrictions on jet fuel are particularly affecting Vietnam and Australia, with cost increases of up to 70%.

China, Chongqing mayor under investigation for corruption

On March 20, the Central Commission for Disciplinary Inspection (CCDI), China’s anti-corruption body, announced that the mayor of Chongqing, Hu Henghuawas placed under investigation for “serious violations of discipline and law”, i.e corruption. He is the highest official in Chongqing – one of the most important cities of the People’s Republic – to fall from grace since 2017, but he is only one of dozens of prominent CCP members to have come under fire from the anti-corruption campaign in recent years. Hu (who was also an alternate member of the CPC Central Committee) had not attended official meetings for a few weeks, and this had already generated suspicions about his status, confirmed by the CCDI’s announcement.

Taiwan will miss a WTO meeting over a dispute with Cameroon

The Taiwanese Foreign Ministry announced that Taipei will not participate at the ministerial conference of the World Trade Organization (OMC) which will be held in Yaoundé, in Cameroonfrom 26 to 29 March. The decision is due to the way Cameroon identified the Taiwanese delegation, labeled as coming from “Taiwan, province of ChinaAccording to Taipei, this denomination is not consistent with the status recognized by the WTO, which defines Taiwan as a “separate customs territoryThis is the first time that Taiwan will not be present at a WTO ministerial since its entry into the organization in 2002.