China pushes development narrative

China used this week’s Hainan consumer expo to launch two new development reports and cast itself as a country still selling openness abroad. (prnewswire.com) At an April 16 event in Haikou during the 6th China International Consumer Products Expo, organizers unveiled the *China Development Report 2025* and the *Global Development Report 2025* alongside a think tank dialogue on the Hainan Free Trade Port. The reports are published annually by the Development Research Center of the State Council, which the release described as a national high-end think tank. (prnewswire.com) The PR Newswire release said the China report covers China’s economic and social development in 2024, while the global report addresses “major concerns of the international community” and argues for paths toward “global stability and sustainable development.” It also said the two reports have been issued every year since 2023. (prnewswire.com) The venue mattered. The 2026 expo in Haikou ran from April 13 to 18 and drew more than 3,400 brands from over 60 countries and regions, making it one of China’s biggest showcases for foreign consumer companies and for Hainan’s free-trade pitch. (english.www.gov.cn) This was also the first edition of the expo after Hainan Free Trade Port began island-wide special customs operations on December 18, 2025. Chinese state media and official outlets have presented that customs shift as a new stage in China’s opening-up drive. (english.www.gov.cn) The reports fit into a broader foreign-policy frame China has been building since September 2021, when Xi Jinping proposed the Global Development Initiative at the United Nations General Assembly. China’s Foreign Ministry now maintains a dedicated archive for the initiative, including a concept paper, project lists and a 2025 progress report. (mfa.gov.cn) Chinese officials have used that initiative to argue that development financing, infrastructure and poverty reduction should stay near the center of global diplomacy. At a September 2025 high-level meeting on the initiative, China’s U.N. mission called on developed countries to meet commitments on aid and climate finance and to expand technology transfer to developing countries. (un.china-mission.gov.cn) The contrast with Washington’s language has become sharper since February 13, 2025, when the White House issued a memorandum on “Reciprocal Trade and Tariffs.” That memo said U.S. policy was to reduce trade deficits and counter “non-reciprocal trading arrangements” by examining tariffs, taxes, subsidies, exchange-rate policies and other barriers country by country. (whitehouse.gov) Beijing’s message in Hainan was not a new treaty or a new aid package. It was a public argument, delivered at a trade expo, that China wants to be seen as the side still talking about development, stability and market access at a moment when the United States is talking more openly about balance and leverage. (prnewswire.com)