The eighth Hongqiao International Economic Forum in Shanghai unveiled the World Openness Report 2025, highlighting a shifting landscape in global economic integration. The report, compiled by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' (CASS) Institute of World Economics and Politics alongside the Hongqiao Forum Research Center, tracks openness across 129 economies from 1990 to 2024.

According to the report, the World Openness Index stood at 0.7545 in 2024, a modest decline of 0.05 percent from the previous year. While social openness remains vibrant, economic and cultural openness are under pressure, with economic openness down 0.22 percent and cultural openness down 0.58 percent year-on-year—both below 2019 and 2008 levels. Traditional engines of global openness in developed economies are weakening, while emerging markets and developing economies are accelerating their engagement, with their openness index rising 0.42 percent in 2024.

Liao Fan, director of CASS's Institute of World Economics and Politics, underscored that “the future of global openness will increasingly depend on emerging forces.” He noted that the convergence of data flows, green energy, and supply chain networks across the Global South is driving a new phase of industrialization—one that is shared, low-carbon, and interconnected.

China's own openness trajectory illustrates this trend. Between 1990 and 2024, China's openness index rose from 0.5891 to 0.7634, a nearly 30 percent increase over three decades, maintaining one of the fastest growth rates globally. Wang Xuekun, director of the Hongqiao Forum Research Center, commented: “China's opening-up practices have become a stable and influential force in global integration, continuously generating new drivers for economic globalization.”

For international investors, multinationals, and trade-focused institutions, these findings carry practical implications. The acceleration of openness in emerging markets signals new avenues for market entry, investment diversification, and participation in evolving supply chains. Expanding economic engagement in these regions may offer opportunities in sectors ranging from green energy and digital trade to industrial manufacturing and logistics. Conversely, slowing openness in traditional economies suggests that companies may face higher barriers to trade, regulatory constraints, and the need to reassess risk in conventional markets.

The report frames openness not merely as a measure of policy but as a strategic lens for identifying growth corridors and navigating the balance between cooperation and security in an increasingly complex global economy. For financial institutions and multinational corporations, understanding where openness is expanding—and where it is contracting—is critical for designing resilient global strategies and capturing emerging-market potential.