IN Brief:
- DP World’s Global Trade Observatory found 58% of Chinese supply chain executives plan to increase suppliers and diversify sourcing in 2026.
- AI deployment, digitalisation, and new-market demand are now leading growth priorities for Chinese logistics and trade operators.
- The findings show a move from cost-led supply chain design toward more layered sourcing, route flexibility, and data-led control.
DP World has identified a marked shift in China’s supply chain strategy, with companies planning broader supplier networks, greater use of AI, and stronger digital systems as trade conditions become harder to predict.
The company’s Global Trade Observatory surveyed 292 supply chain and logistics executives in China. Among those respondents, 58% said they plan to increase suppliers and diversify sourcing in 2026, making supplier expansion the most widely cited strategic change in the study.
Near-shoring was cited by 38% of respondents, friend-shoring by 36%, and increased inventories by 32%. Taken together, the responses show Chinese companies building more optionality into networks that have historically been optimised for scale, cost, and export efficiency.
Technology sits close to the centre of that redesign. Half of respondents identified AI deployment as a growth priority, while 44% cited digitalisation. New-market demand was cited by 43%, and new value chains by 34%, placing data, market access, and supply chain structure into the same strategic frame.
China’s role in global manufacturing means the findings reach well beyond domestic logistics planning. Supplier diversification inside China does not necessarily mean a retreat from Chinese production; in many cases, it indicates that exporters, manufacturers, and logistics operators are preparing for more demanding route choices, compliance regimes, tariffs, and end-market shifts.
More suppliers give companies options, but they also bring more contracts, more quality data, more customs records, more shipment events, and more risk signals. Without stronger digital infrastructure, supplier diversification can become another layer of administrative complexity rather than a practical resilience tool.
AI adoption is being drawn into that problem because conventional planning cycles struggle to keep pace with trade volatility. A wider supplier base becomes more useful when procurement teams can compare risk, cost, lead time, duty exposure, and reliability before disruption hits production or fulfilment. The value is not in adding suppliers for its own sake, but in knowing which supplier to use when conditions change.
China-linked trade is also becoming more legally and operationally sophisticated. Recent changes to Chinese maritime rules, including tighter treatment of electronic transport records and contracts involving Chinese loading or discharge ports, have placed more weight on documentation discipline and legal certainty. A more diversified sourcing model will increase the value of clean data and reliable trade documentation across those flows.
Inventory strategy is moving in the same direction. Holding more stock can reduce exposure to late shipments, but it ties up capital and warehouse space. Better forecasting, route visibility, and supplier-risk monitoring allow companies to decide where buffer stock is justified, and where it only masks poor planning.
New-market demand adds another layer of complexity. Export networks built around established lanes and predictable volumes are less suited to conditions where demand varies by region, product, and regulatory environment. Chinese companies expanding into new markets need logistics systems that can handle customs variation, regional fulfilment, duty exposure, and service expectations across multiple jurisdictions.
The study’s findings also suggest a broader change in how resilience is being defined. Cost remains important, but sourcing decisions are now being tested against ESG requirements, tariff exposure, policy incentives, route redundancy, and technology readiness. The more these factors interact, the harder it becomes to manage them through spreadsheets and periodic supplier reviews.
Logistics providers are likely to see stronger demand for services that combine freight capacity, customs capability, digital documentation, and market-entry support. A company expanding into a new market does not only need a container booking or an airfreight lane. It needs confidence that goods can clear, move, be stored, be returned, and be replenished under local operating conditions.
The stronger supply chain model emerging from the data is neither purely local nor purely global. It is more layered, with alternative suppliers, better trade intelligence, more digital control, and enough physical flexibility to act on what the data shows. Chinese companies are now building that model at pace.
