Global openness is losing steam as traditional economic powerhouses turn inward, according to the newly released World Openness Report 2025. Based on 2024 data from 129 economies, the report’s World Openness Index fell 0.05 percent year-on-year, according to Chinese media outlets.
That marks an overall 0.34 percent decline from 2019 and a 5.39 percent drop from its 2008 peak. Developing economies, however, posted a 0.42 percent rise in their collective openness index.
The findings – compiled by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ (CASS) Institute of World Economics and Politics and the research centre for the Hongqiao International Economic Forum – were unveiled Wednesday during the China International Import Expo in Shanghai.
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Liao Fan, director of CASS’ Institute of World Economics and Politics, noted that North America, Europe and Central Asia were “the only geographic blocs to experience a shrinkage in openness.” Their tightening was attributed to a rise in security-driven policies and growing scrutiny of foreign investment, especially in sensitive sectors such as high technology and critical minerals.
China, in contrast, saw a 14.1 percent year-on-year rise in the number of new foreign-invested companies established during the first seven months of 2025.
Liao also pointed out that social openness was holding up “relatively well” across the board, while economic and cultural openness were “buckling under pressure.”
The report highlighted digital economies, green technologies and industrial chains as key engines of continued globalisation. According to Wang Xuekun, director of the Hongqiao International Economic Forum’s research centre, these were “[pushing] emerging powers to open up to the world.”
