World Openness Report 2026: China Leads Developing Economies as Global Openness Falls Most in a Decade

The headline divergence — global openness falling at its fastest pace in nearly a decade while the emerging and developing economy index rises — is the substantive signal here, since it suggests the openness gap is widening rather than a uniform retreat. China's position at the forefront of developing economies gives Beijing a useful narrative anchor amid broader protectionist drift, though an index reading is a measure of posture, not of capital flows or market access. The open question is whether the developing-economy gains hold if global conditions keep tightening, and how the report's methodology treats the sectors most relevant to cross-border capital.