China continues to be the center of global manufacturing value chains, according to a report released by the Boao Forum for Asia on March 25.

The report, titled Asian Economic Outlook and Integration Progress Annual Report 2025, noted that since 2017, global trade in intermediate goods has been more reliant on China than on North America. In 2023, global dependence on China for intermediate goods stood at 16 percent, compared with 15 percent for North America.

The trade frictions provoked by the United States in 2018 have not elevated its position in the global value chains of manufacturing, the report added.