Belgian-Chinese Trade Sailing Against the Rousing Winds of Protectionism

International headwinds, like the US-China trade war, are a major concern for small open economies like Belgium that are sailing on the waves of globalization, free trade and open markets. We take a deeper dive into the recent trends in Belgian-Chinese trade in order to determine how this bilateral trade relationship has been affected so far by the adverse international circumstances and how both economies perform in each other’s market in an international comparison. Our analysis shows that Belgian-Chinese trade withstood the globally increasing protectionism relatively well. Moreover, our findings point to new opportunities that could boost Belgian-Chinese trade in the future. In particular, China and Belgium appear to be natural partners in sectors where Belgium possesses long-term experience, knowledge and innovation and where China is interested in for its further economic and technological development.