In the first five months of 2026, Dalian delivered a surprising report card: exports were 112.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.5%, a growth rate outperforming the country; ship exports were even stronger, directly increasing by 1.2 times.
In the narrative of “Northeast Economy”, this is a rare outbreak.
But what’s more worth asking than the “outbreak” is: What will this wave of growth leave behind?
Is it a short-lived pulse, or is it a new engine for the city’s long-term development?
Dismantling the structure behind this surge in foreign trade will reveal that the answer is biased towards the latter.
This time Dalian is not just “selling more”, but selling more valuable, farther and smarter.
From industrial foundation, hub energy level to urban competitiveness, all three dimensions are undergoing qualitative changes.
The industrial chain goes from “assembly” to “rooting”. This is the real chassis.
In the past, when discussing manufacturing in Dalian, the key words were “petrochemical” and “shipbuilding”, which are huge but somewhat cumbersome.
The most critical turning point in the growth of foreign trade this time is that leading companies have taken root and upgraded the entire supporting system.
Chery’s Dalian base is the most typical case.
In the early stages of production, its local matching rate was only 2%, which meant that 99% of the parts had to be shipped from other places or abroad, and the local assembly workshop was used.
But by the end of 2025, the matching rate has reached 40%, and the goal is more radical: the proportion of supporting suppliers within 5 kilometers will reach 85%.
This is not the expansion of a factory, but through platforms such as the “Chain Future·Rongfa Center”, Chery has taken the initiative to open technical standards to local suppliers and assist in upgrading, driving the average annual output value of core supporting enterprises to grow by more than 30%.
This “chain owner-driven” model gives small and medium-sized supporting companies certainty.
Demax Precision Technology, an original “hidden champion”, took the lead in establishing the Dalian Lushunkou District Auto Parts Industry Innovation Alliance, packaging precision shafts, die castings, and electronic control systems into “Dalian supporting products” for external export.
Another pillar, shipbuilding and offshore engineering, is also providing deep local support.
Dalian has more than 100 shipbuilding and offshore engineering supporting companies, covering fields such as marine engines and electronic navigation systems.
Hengli Heavy Industry holds orders until 2030. Behind it is the integration of local production capacity, technology and services.
From “assembly” to “rooting” is a fundamental improvement in the industry’s ability to resist risks.
When global trade frictions come, the higher the local matching rate, the harder it is to cut off the supply chain; when global customers require shorter delivery cycles, the location advantage of “front port and back factory” can be transformed into real competitiveness.
Port hubs have changed from “big” to “fast”, and logistics efficiency has become a new moat.
Foreign trade competition is ultimately a competition of logistics efficiency.
The upgrade of Dalian Port has provided local industries with an almost irreplaceable access to the sea.
The most intuitive indicator is port performance.
The global ranking of Dalian Port has jumped from 42nd to second in the world in 2025.
Behind the ranking are real efficiency improvements: the construction of the first automated container terminal in Northeast China and the launch of the “Smart Port 2.0” system, which shortens the time of ships in the port to the limit.
For export companies, this means a visible cost account.
A new route from Dalian to the Middle East has been opened, with the voyage shortened by at least 10 days compared with the traditional route; the cross-border e-commerce “bonded LCL” model has reduced logistics costs by nearly 30%.
Time compression is the improvement of capital turnover efficiency, and cost reduction is the reshaping of profit margins.
More importantly, Dalian Port is upgrading from a “transfer station” to a “processing plant + hub”.
Jinpu New District has firmly ranked as the number one port for importing aquatic products in the country. It has innovated the “bonded spot” model and shortened the customs clearance time of Southeast Asian fruits by more than 50%.
The port is no longer a simple loading and unloading place, but a value-added node in the supply chain – where goods are stored, processed, distributed and traded, and then exported nationwide or re-exported overseas.
Urban competitiveness forms a positive cycle from “exporting products” to “exporting capabilities”.
The third lasting driving force for the growth of foreign trade is that it has led to a comprehensive upgrade of the city’s “soft power” – R&D investment, foreign investment agglomeration, talent inflow, and policy support, forming a self-reinforcing cycle.
The data speaks directly.
The R&D investment intensity of Dalian society as a whole has increased from 1.39% to 3.21%.
The added value of the core industries of the digital economy exceeded 75 billion yuan.
These are not isolated figures, but are directly linked to the export structure – mechanical and electrical product exports accounted for 62.2%, and ship exports doubled, which is supported by local R&D capabilities.
Only with high investment in R&D can companies dare to take high-end orders; with more high-end orders, profit margins can be thick enough, which in turn supports companies to continue to increase research and development.
This is the most solid positive cycle for industrial upgrading.
Foreign capital is also rushing in.
Dalian’s actual use of foreign investment in 2025 is US$2.69 billion, a year-on-year increase of 43.8%.
In the past ten years, 50 major foreign investment projects have been introduced through the Summer Davos Forum. Leading projects such as SK Hynix Phase 3 have directly led to the formation of a new generation of information technology industry clusters valued at 200 billion.
Foreign capital brings not only money, but also global technical standards, management models and market channels.
When more and more global customers recognize “Made in Dalian”, and when more multinational companies are willing to locate their production bases and R&D centers here, the city’s ability to resist cyclical and risk risks will truly be established.
Comprehensive judgment: The outstanding results in the first five months of 2026 are of course due to short-term policy stimulus and the implementation of major projects, but what is really worthy of attention are the changes in long-term variables: the improvement of the local supporting rate of the industrial chain, the jump in port hub efficiency, the doubling of R&D investment intensity, and the continued accumulation of foreign investment and talents.
Perhaps the biggest revelation that Dalian has brought to the Northeast this time is that the long-term development motivation of a city is never in the percentage point of growth in a certain quarter, but in those things that are “difficult to be taken away overnight” – the established industrial chain, improved hub efficiency, accumulated R&D capabilities and business environment.
