In letter to expo, President Xi says nation’s high-level opening-up offers new opportunities to the world

Chinese Premier Li Qiang tours the exhibitions with foreign leaders after attending the opening ceremony of the sixth China International Import Expo (CIIE) and the Hongqiao International Economic Forum in Shanghai, east China, Nov 5, 2023. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

China will always provide important opportunities for global development, and remain committed to high-level opening-up and driving economic globalization towards a more open, inclusive, balanced, and win-win direction, President Xi Jinping said on Nov 5.

In a letter to the sixth China International Import Expo, or CIIE, which opened in Shanghai on Nov 5 and runs through Nov 10, the president emphasized the need for various nations to stand in solidarity and jointly seek development amid the sluggish global economic recovery.

The CIIE, first held in 2018, has leveraged the strengths of China’s huge market and serves as a platform for international procurement, investment promotion, people-to-people exchanges and open cooperation, Xi said, adding that the expo has contributed to fostering a new development pattern and global economic growth.

He laid out expectations that the annual expo can elevate its function as a gateway to the new development pattern and present new opportunities to the world with China’s fresh development.

The expo should fully amplify its role as a platform for facilitating high-level opening-up, make the Chinese market a major one shared by the world, further provide shared international public goods and services, and facilitate the building of an open global economy, so that the whole world can benefit from win-win cooperation, Xi said.

Premier Li Qiang, in his keynote speech at the opening of the expo, reiterated Beijing’s commitment to advancing opening-up with greater market opportunities, proactively expanding imports and further creating immense dividends for the world.

China’s imports of goods and services are expected to reach a cumulative $17 trillion in the next five years, he said.

The nation will move forward with opening-up with better alignment in rules, and it will develop more high-level opening-up platforms such as pilot free trade zones and the Hainan Free Trade Port, he said.

He repeated China’s readiness to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement as part of broader efforts to widen market access and protect the legitimate interests of foreign investors.

Li pledged to advance opening-up with greater impetus for innovation, including steps to bolster cooperation in innovation, and share the outcomes of innovation.

Beijing will firmly uphold the authority and effectiveness of the multilateral trading system, fully participate in the reform of the World Trade Organization, and firmly promote the stability of global industrial and supply chains, he added.

The expo’s opening ceremony brought together about 1,500 representatives from 154 countries, regions and international organizations.

Global trade experts and business leaders at the ceremony hailed China’s firm determination to expand opening-up, which they said will inject positive energy into the world economy.

Rebeca Grynspan, secretary-general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, said: “As President Xi has said, development is not a zero-sum game. One nation’s success does not mean another’s downfall.”

“In a multipolar world, healthy competition, trade based on internationally agreed rules and greater cooperation must be the way forward,” she said.

Visitors admire a model of Tiangong space station at the CIIE China pavilion. (ZHU XINGXIN / CHINA DAILY)

Wang Lei, global executive vice-president of UK-based AstraZeneca and president of its China branch, said the company is deeply impressed by Chinese authorities’ strong signals to uphold globalization and expand opening-up.

China’s economy is stable and AstraZeneca is determined to deepen its roots in the country, he said, adding the company will “increase investments on research and development, innovation and production capacity” in China.

Toshinobu Umetsu, president and CEO of Japanese company Shiseido’s branch in China, said China’s determination to build an open economy has injected much certainty and vitality into the world economy.

United States-based multinational companies, in particular, are very bullish on their business prospects in China.

Jin Fangqian, vice-president of Gilead Sciences and general manager of its China operations, said that China, with its ever-improving business environment, is set to provide more growth opportunities for multinational enterprises as the country expands its opening-up.

Will Song, global senior vice-president of Johnson & Johnson, said his company firmly believes that China’s development will give new impetus to the world’s development, and that China’s innovation will play an increasingly important role in the global arena.

At a conference on the World Openness Report 2023 and International Symposium on World Opening-up, which was part of the Hongqiao International Economic Forum during the CIIE, participants said on Nov 5 that China’s commitment to expanding high-level opening-up will continue to benefit the nation as well as other countries.

Christopher Pissarides, Regius professor of economics at the London School of Economics, who won the 2010 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, said via video that openness helps a country expand its market, which in turn helps it improve efficiency and leverage competitive advantages to attain growth that is otherwise difficult to achieve.

The World Openness Report 2023 was jointly released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of World Economics and Politics, and the Research Center for the Hongqiao International Economic Forum.

According to the report, the downward trend in world openness since 2008 continued in 2022, with divergence intensifying among countries and regions.

The 2022 World Openness Index dropped to 0.7542, compared with 0.7975 recorded in 2008. Last year was also the seventh consecutive year that the index fell between 0.75 and 0.76, and it was the second-lowest level since 2008.

From 2008 to 2022, the openness index for advanced economies decreased from 0.8543 to 0.7882, while for emerging economies and developing countries, the corresponding figure increased from 0.6741 to 0.7067.

Zhang Yuyan, director of the CASS Institute of World Economics and Politics, said, “Openness will indeed increase a country’s risk factors, but trade and information exchange with the outside world will also strengthen its capacity, enhance its ability to maintain security, and help it obtain a more stable external environment through enhanced mutual trust and deepened bonds of interest with the outside world.”

Albert Muchanga, the African Union’s commissioner for economic development, trade, tourism, industry, and minerals, said world openness needs to be enhanced.

Citing examples of China’s achievements in opening-up, such as its remarkable progress in developing the pilot free trade zones, Zhou Xiaochuan, former governor of the People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank, said via video that China has been injecting new growth impetus into world openness through its unwavering opening-up.

Gu Xueming, president of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said China’s interactions with the world in opening-up “have become a good example of optimal opening-up, reflecting the country’s goodwill to take the initiative to open up and promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind”.

Joey Wat, CEO of Yum China, said that “with a 36-year history in China ... we are excited about the significant opportunities China presents and remain confident in our ability to seize these growth opportunities”.

Anne-Laure Parrical de Chammard, a member of the executive board of Siemens Energy, said dialogue, exchanges, and cooperation are more important than ever before, considering global challenges such as climate change.

“China is pursuing a ‘Chinese path to modernization’ through high-quality development and high-level opening-up,” she said.

Zheng Xin contributed to this story.

Contact the writers at xuwei@chinadaily.com.cn