China Is the World's Manufacturing Superpower

According to data published by the United Nations Statistics Division, China accounted for 31 percent of global manufacturing output in 2022. That puts the country almost 15 percentage points ahead of second-placed United States, which used to have the world’s largest manufacturing sector until China overtook it in 2010.

With total value added by the Chinese manufacturing sector amounting to more than $5 trillion in 2022, manufacturing accounted for nearly 30 percent of the country’s total economic output. The U.S. economy is much less reliant on manufacturing these days: in 2022, the manufacturing sector accounted for just over 10 percent of the country's gross domestic product.

China's global manufacturing dominance is so large that the value added in its manufacturing sector roughly matches the combined output of the next seven largest manufacturing countries in the world.