By Wang Ke
The second China International Import Expo (CIIE), which is scheduled to take place from Nov. 5 to 10 in Shanghai, is bound to bring more benefits to China and the world.
Faced by slowing economic growth and rising risks and challenges, the world has a significant choice to make between openness and isolation, and between progress and backtracking.
For China, the initiative to expand imports is not a choice of expediency. It is a future-oriented step taken to embrace the world and promote common development.
The CIIE is a firm step taken by China to push for a higher level of opening up, and it reflects the country’s commitment in building an open world economy.
The CIIE focuses on continued success. The expo, an event to be held on an annual basis, will feature good performance, good results and continued success in the years to come. Guided by this principle, China has prepared meticulously for the second CIIE.
Credible sources indicated that the exhibition venue of the second CIIE covers an area of 360,000 square meters, 60,000 square meters larger than that of the first CIIE. Over 3,000 companies from 150 countries and regions have registered for the event, including more than 250 companies on the Fortune Global 500 list and industry leading enterprises.
More professional, high-grade and advanced technologies will be brought to the CIIE from around the world, indicating that the number and quality of new products and technologies to debut at the second CIIE are expected to surpass that of the first expo.
The CIIE has created a huge “magnetic effect”. As the world’s first import-themed national expo, the CIIE, which advocates high-level opening up, injects more positive energy to global economic and trade cooperation and reaps more supporters and participants, at a time when global economy is undergoing profound adjustments and trade protectionism and unilateralism are mounting.
The CIIE, featuring a larger scale, higher quality, stronger innovation, a higher level, and better results, manifests China’s initiative to expand opening up and continuous efforts to advance the building of an open economy.
The CIIE is an event that seeks to develop and benefit the world. By setting up this platform, China pragmatically expands the import of high-quality consumer goods and services, and provides more choices for domestic consumers so that ordinary people can buy more desirable products, enjoy better services and have a stronger sense of gain and happiness.
The expo has fully demonstrated that China is not only an advocate but also a practitioner of an open world economy. Opening the door to the world and making new contributions to global development, China earnestly fulfills its commitment to the world.
For example, the country has stimulated import potential through further reducing tariffs, improving customs clearance convenience, slashing the institutional costs related to imports and accelerating the development of new formats and new models such as cross-border e-commerce.
It has also continued to relax market access and further reduced the negative list of foreign investment access. These major initiatives have won wide recognition from the international community.
The CIIE gathers energy from around the globe. In a world of deepening economic globalization, practices of the law of the jungle and winner-takes-all only lead to a dead end. Inclusive growth for all is surely the right way forward.
The CIIE is an event hosted by China with the support of the WTO and other international organizations as well as a large number of participating countries. It is not China’s solo show, but rather a chorus involving countries from around the world.
The upcoming second CIIE, which will only become better and become an on-going process, will surely bring more surprises, build an innovative and inclusive open world economy and inject new impetus into creating a better future for mankind.
(Source: People’s Daily)
