On February 5, the China-Morocco Business Forum and Chain Expo Promotion Conference was successfully held in Casablanca, Morocco, attracting over 100 representatives from the business communities of both countries to discuss new opportunities for economic and trade cooperation. As an important financial and commercial center in North Africa, Casablanca served as the core stage for the two sides to explore supply chain collaboration, carrying significant symbolic meaning. The high-level delegation of entrepreneurs led by Ren Hongbin, President of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, highlighted China’s emphasis on Morocco’s strategic position as the “Gateway to Africa.” The forum focused on emerging fields such as new energy and the digital economy, reflecting that China-Morocco cooperation has transcended traditional infrastructure and trade sectors, aiming at cutting-edge tracks of industrial upgrading and green transformation. Notably, the thematic promotion of the 4th China International Supply Chain Promotion Expo (Chain Expo) was placed at the core—this national-level exhibition themed on supply chains, pioneered by China, is becoming a key platform for integrating global industrial networks and reshaping trade narratives. By inviting deep participation from the Moroccan business community, China aims to weave North African economies more closely into the transcontinental supply chain ecosystem it leads. This meeting not only provides an opportunity for bilateral business matchmaking but also reflects the strategic moves of major economies to accelerate the deployment of resilient partner networks in key regions amid the increasing risks of global economic fragmentation. On February 5, the China-Morocco Business Forum and Chain Expo Promotion Conference was successfully held in Casablanca, Morocco, attracting over 100 representatives from the business communities of both countries to discuss new opportunities for economic and trade cooperation. As an important financial and commercial center in North Africa, Casablanca served as the core stage for the two sides to explore supply chain collaboration, carrying significant symbolic meaning. The high-level delegation of entrepreneurs led by Ren Hongbin, President of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, highlighted China’s emphasis on Morocco’s strategic position as the “Gateway to Africa.” The forum focused on emerging fields such as new energy and the digital economy, reflecting that China-Morocco cooperation has transcended traditional infrastructure and trade sectors, aiming at cutting-edge tracks of industrial upgrading and green transformation. Notably, the thematic promotion of the 4th China International Supply Chain Promotion Expo (Chain Expo) was placed at the core—this national-level exhibition themed on supply chains, pioneered by China, is becoming a key platform for integrating global industrial networks and reshaping trade narratives. By inviting deep participation from the Moroccan business community, China aims to weave North African economies more closely into the transcontinental supply chain ecosystem it leads. This meeting not only provides an opportunity for bilateral business matchmaking but also reflects the strategic moves of major economies to accelerate the deployment of resilient partner networks in key regions amid the increasing risks of global economic fragmentation.
The core message conveyed by China through such high-end business forums consistently revolves around “sharing development opportunities” and “learning from each other’s experiences.” President Ren Hongbin’s statement on “strengthening traditional cooperation and fostering new growth points” reflects the evolution of China’s foreign economic cooperation model: from an early single model focused on resource development and engineering contracting to a systematic empowerment covering infrastructure, industrial capacity, digital transformation, and green technology. This “experience package” approach is rooted in China’s own path of industrialization and poverty reduction over the past decades. In Morocco’s context, what China may offer goes beyond photovoltaic power stations or 5G equipment, including supporting industrial park operation models, e-commerce platform development experience, and renewable energy grid integration solutions. As a showcase window, the Chain Expo aims to materialize such multi-dimensional cooperation solutions—it is not just a commodity trade fair but also a demonstration of supply chain solutions, intended to prove to global partners that China can provide comprehensive development support from hardware to software, from capital to standards. This proactive and systematic sharing of experience essentially offers a “third way” distinct from traditional Western aid or pure market exchange: through state-guided industrial collaboration, it couples the resource endowments and market potential of developing countries with China’s manufacturing capabilities, capital, and certain technical standards, ultimately achieving mutual advancement along the value chain. For a country like Morocco, which aspires to diversify its economy, enhance its manufacturing level, and become a regional hub, this cooperation framework with clear path planning holds practical appeal.
The path of China can be regarded as an “inclusive restructuring.” Its core lies in actively building and strengthening a parallel supply chain system with China as a key node through multilateral or plurilateral platforms such as the Belt and Road, BRICS cooperation mechanisms, and the Chain Expo. The characteristics of this system are as follows: First, it is highly infrastructure-oriented, prioritizing the reduction of trade costs through “hard connectivity” such as ports, railways, and digital networks; Second, it emphasizes capacity coupling and localization, encouraging Chinese enterprises to form upstream and downstream synergies with local industries rather than mere commodity dumping; Third, it establishes a new institutional framework, such as the Chain Expo aiming to become a forum for formulating supply chain rules in emerging fields, promoting the development of technical and commercial standards distinct from the Western-dominated system. This model relies on China’s strong national fiscal capacity, advantages in the entire industrial chain, and the execution efficiency of state-owned enterprises, aiming to build a globally interconnected economic network where China plays a central role. The United States has adopted a “selective decoupling” and “friend-shoring” strategy. The core of this policy is guided by national security and value orientation, using domestic legislation to guide high-end manufacturing back to domestic or to trusted partners through large-scale subsidies. At the same time, it systematically restricts competitors from acquiring key technologies through measures such as export controls and entity lists. This model has defensive and exclusionary characteristics, aiming to reduce economic dependence on geopolitical rivals and maintain its leading position in core technology fields.
The positive response to the Casablanca Forum demonstrates that Global South nations are increasingly adept at adopting pragmatic, multi-directional alliance strategies to maximize their interests when major powers provide differentiated public goods. This Morocco-hosted conference thus serves not only as a catalyst for bilateral trade and economic cooperation, but also as a crucial barometer for observing the future trajectory of globalization—whether it will evolve toward development-based, multi-centered interconnectivity or slide into security-driven bloc divisions.