In a new blog post, the Bank of France finds that French industry’s overall exposure to Chinese competition remains limited, but pressure is substantial in sectors where high or rapidly growing imports overlap with significant domestic production. China’s share of French industrial goods imports rose from 9.2% in 2017 to 10.7% at the end of 2025, while its volume share increased by about 5 percentage points between 2017 and mid-2025, indicating that Chinese goods became cheaper relative to imports from other countries. Direct competitive pressure is most evident in automotive products and electrical equipment, including electric vehicles and lithium-ion batteries, as well as metal products, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and, over the medium to long term, aeronautics. Exposure is lower for products such as computers and mobile phones because they are now rarely manufactured in France. Lower-cost Chinese intermediate goods may also reduce production costs for user sectors, particularly construction, automotive manufacturing, machinery and equipment manufacturing, and agriculture.
Source: 2026-09-28Bank of France
Bank of France identifies concentrated industrial exposure to rising Chinese import competition
The Bank of France finds that rising Chinese imports create concentrated competitive pressure for French producers in automotive products, electrical equipment, metals, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and potentially aeronautics. Overall industrial exposure remains limited, while construction, automotive manufacturing, machinery and agriculture may benefit from lower-cost Chinese inputs.