China quadrupled the number of countries to which it was the biggest export market in the decade to 2014, the UBS analysts wrote. In the same period, the U.S. almost halved the number of countries for which it held the same title.

In terms of exports as a share of GDP, nearly all countries UBS covers saw their China exposure rise. Some doubled—including Japan, South Korea, U.S., Brazil, Canada, and Chile—while others tripled—such as Germany and the EU—and some, like Australia, even quadrupled.

For commodity exporters including South Africa, Australia, Indonesia, and Brazil, the impact of a slowing China has been predictably negative.

Re-exporting countries—those most dependent on China's electronics demand such as Taiwan, Korea, the Philippines, and Vietnam—fared better. Vietnam and the Philippines did this by increasing their market share and the value of their electronics and textiles exports to China. Taiwan and Korea, meanwhile, increased supplies destined for China's final consumers.

The UBS economists note that the role of processing in China's export story has shrunk since the global financial crisis. Due to weaker developed-market demand and eroding competitiveness in lower-end and labor-intensive sectors, China is moving up the value chain. That could mean less Chinese demand for developed exporters and more competition, too.

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