At the opening ceremony of the 2023 China International Import Expo (CIIE), Chinese Premier Li Qiang shared an inspiring story of Ali Faiz, a young merchant from Afghanistan, a country long plagued by war and in desperate need of development. Through CIIE, Ali brought to China handmade wool carpets from his hometown, each skillfully crafted by the hard-working locals. Every carpet sold was providing for families living in the mountainous terrains of Afghanistan and giving them hope for a better life. The CIIE, held in China’s Shanghai annually, is a major move of the country to open wider to the world and share development opportunities with partners globally. Unlike other long-existing exhibitions that focus on export, the CIIE is about boosting import and helping foreign firms showcase and sell their products and services in China. It has been held six times since its launch in 2018. Given the size of China's market, the CIIE has multiple roles to play: scaling up international procurement, promoting investment, facilitating people-to-people interactions, and advancing global cooperation. It has since contributed significantly to both China’s endeavor to foster a new development paradigm and to the growth of the world economy. At the recently concluded third plenum of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the importance of improving the institutions and mechanisms of high-standard opening-up was once again emphasized. A more open China is going to deliver greater benefits to the rest of the world. Home to a huge population, an expanding middle-class and well-sustained economic growth, China has the ideal consumer market for quality products from around the world. Adding to that is the country’s world-class manufacturing ecosystem that is constantly fortified by increasing input in innovation and R&D. The country once known for “Made in China” goods is now taking on new features such as “Created in China” and “Designed by China.” To trade with China is to trade for the future. The CPC also adopted a resolution at its recent central committee plenum on reform measures designed to advance Chinese modernization, including systematic steps to build a unified national market. By removing the inconveniences that foreign firms might encounter entering China, this will help them do better as they explore the enormous market of the country. That also promises more opportunities for global growth. China has done a lot to liberalize and facilitate trade over the years. The government has been conducting reforms to facilitate trade and investment in the country’s Pilot Free Trade Zones. Its customs authorities and other related departments have launched 27 specified measures to improve port services. Its tax administration has been moving to strengthen interdepartmental information sharing, streamline tax refund declaration, and speed up tax refunds for exports. And the list goes on. It is thanks to these measures that in the first half of 2024, China’s trade in goods hit RMB21.17 trillion, up by 6.1 percent year on year. China is working hard to bring in more investment, as is reflected in its 24-point measure to enhance the country’s appeal for foreign investors. The resolution of the recent CPC plenum also laid out a plan to reform the foreign investment management system, and incorporates measures including expanding the catalog of encouraged industries for foreign investment, removing all market access restrictions in the manufacturing sector, ensuring national treatment, and making life on the mainland more convenient for people who come from outside the area. Such efforts will help China foster a world-class business environment so that more foreign enterprises will share in the dividends of China’s development. In the first half of 2024, foreign investment in China amounted to nearly RMB500 billion yuan, and 26,870 foreign-invested enterprises were established here, 14.2 percent more than the previous year. This speaks volumes about foreign investors’ enthusiasm toward the Chinese market and their confidence in its prospects. Despite the headwinds of protectionism and decoupling faced by the world economy, the trend of economic globalization is irreversible. As an engine for global growth, China will leverage its market size and opening-up measures to contribute new impetus to the world economy. YI Xin is a columnist based in Beijing for international affairs.
