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China, the world’s largest producer and exporter of plastics, exported * billion U.S. dollars worth of plastic materials in 2022. This was a decrease of nearly *** billion U.S. dollars compared to the previous year. 

Chinese plastic exports

China accounted for a ** percent share of the global plastic material production in 2022. That was the highest share of any world region, followed by the rest of Asian countries with a combined ** percent. As the number one producer of plastics in the world, China has the economy of scale to export plastic products in high quantities for a relatively low price. The country’s plastic export volume has steadily risen over the past decade, amounting to over ** million metric tons in 2019, trumping all other nations.

Consumption of plastics in China

China is also the leading consumer of plastics with apparent plastics consumption amounting to over *** million metric tons. Regardless of the plastic bans introduced by the government in 2007, plastic usage has had positive growth year on year. In addition, the year-on-year consumption growth of plastic products in China increased significantly between 2019 and 2020, going from *** percent up to **** percent the following year, potentially linked to the global COVID-19 pandemic.