By comparing the merchandise export growth rate and the GDP growth rate of all the G20 economies, this paper finds that the great collapse of the merchandise export since 2012 does not only happen in China, instead it is actually a global phenomenon. This paper is dedicated to explore the reasons of this round of global merchandise export collapse especially from the global value chain perspective, and we proved that the emergence of the “ceiling” phenomenon of the global value chain, the upgrading and extension of the global value chain in the developing economies and the shrinking of the global value chain in the developed economies are all responsible for this round of global merchandise export collapse. As a result, we propose that expanding the geographical scope of the global value chain by carrying forward the “One Belt One Road” strategy, and deepening the level of the global value chain by promoting the “Free Trade Agreement” policy should help China’s export revive soon.