1、China Inc.heads to Global South in the age of tariffsAugust 2025This article,by S&P Global Ratings and S&P Global Market Intelligence,is a thought leadership report that neither addresses views about ratings on individual entities nor is a rating action.S&P Global Ratings and S&P Global Market Intel

2、ligence are separate and independent divisions of S&P G|2025 S&P Global.All rights reserved.China Inc.heads to Global South in the age of tariffs|2AuthorsS&P Global Ratings Charles Chang,Greater China Country Lead,Corporates Claire Yuan,China Auto Lead S&P Global Market Intelligence Chris Rogers,Hea

3、d of Supply Chain Research Contributors Melody Peng,Research Assistant April Pascual,Lead Editor Shirley Gil,Lead DesignerHighlightsLeading Chinese firms are heading to the Global South amid rising US tariffs on Chinese goods since 2018.S&P Global expects this trend to continue as companies look to

4、diversify sales away from the US and expand to other markets with stronger growth prospects than at home.This trend is reflected in the rapidly growing trade between China and the Global South,which includes most of the developing world.China now exports over 50%more to these regions($1.6 trillion)t

5、han to the US and Western Europe combined($1 trillion).Booming trade has helped secure Chinese firms access to these markets.On average,Chinas trade with its top 20 trading partners in the Global South amounts to nearly 20%of these countries GDP(Figure 1).Chinese firms are not just redirecting goods

6、 for re-export through these regions.They are increasingly producing them there.This requires investing in the local economy.Their investments in Chinas four largest trading partners in Southeast Asia,for example,have quadrupled over the past decade to an average of$8.8 billion annually.These invest