Tianjin has kept up with China’s reform and opening-up trend. In the new era, Tianjin plans to open its gates wider to welcome cooperation worldwide.

In 2021, the city's total volume of imports and exports stood at 856.7 billion yuan ($135.27 billion), up 16.3 percent year-on-year.

Tianjin has built over 20 Luban Workshops, offering technical skills training to college students in overseas countries.

Tianjin Port has over 133 cargo routes, extending trade ties with more than 800 ports in over 200 countries and regions. 

Tianjin has strengthened its economic and trade cooperation with countries and regions that are participating in the Belt and Road Initiative. By September 2020, it had established 148 overseas enterprises and institutions in these countries and regions, with investment totaling $1.84 billion.

The city has actively integrated into the development of the China-Mongolia-Russia and China-Pakistan economic corridors.

International parks such as the Tianjin Italian Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Industrial Park and China-Egypt Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone Bonded Warehouse have finished construction.

The Sino-Japan (Tianjin) Health Industry Development Cooperation Demonstration Zone has progressed steadily.

At the end of 2020, there were 29,600 foreign-invested enterprises in Tianjin, including 256 Fortune 500 companies. A total of 3,024 domestic-funded projects were introduced throughout the year. 10,800 new enterprises were established in the free trade zone, adding registered capital of domestic-funded enterprises totaling 300.4 billion yuan.

By taking advantage of the Summer Davos Forum, World Intelligence Congress, International Mining Conference and other high-level exchanges and cooperation platforms, Tianjin has expanded channels for opening-up and exchanges.

Tianjin was the first Chinese city to start relations and exchanges with foreign cities. By the end of 2020, Tianjin had established various forms of relations with 93 local governments in 50 countries.