China and the World Trade Organization
3. Two-way investment benefiting all countries
China has been promoting the establishment of a fair, equitable and transparent system of international trade and investment rules to boost the orderly flow of production factors, efficient resources allocation and full market integration.
China has proactively attracted foreign institutions and individuals to invest and develop in China. Since 1992, China has consistently topped the list of FDI recipients among developing countries for 26 years consecutively. After China's accession to the WTO, its FDI increased from USD46.88 billion in 2001 to USD136.32 billion in 2017, up by an annual average of 6.9 percent. FIEs have shared the benefits of China's economic development, while helping improve the quality and performance of China's economy. According to the "2018 China Business Climate Survey Report" by the American Chamber of Commerce in China (AmCham China), nearly 60 percent of the interviewed enterprises ranked China as a top three investment priority; some 74 percent of the AmCham China member enterprises plan to expand their investments in China in 2018, the highest in recent years, and one third of the interviewed enterprises plan to increase their investments in China by over 10 percent. According to the "Business Confidence Survey 2018" by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, more than half of its member enterprises plan to expand their presence in China. In 2017, newly founded FIEs in China reached 35,652, registering an increase of 27.8 percent.
China's outward investment cooperation has developed in a sustained, sound, and orderly way. In terms of annual flow of outward direct investment (ODI), China's world ranking rose from the 26th place after its accession to the WTO to the third in 2017. China's outward investment cooperation has accelerated technological progress in the host countries, advanced their economic development, improved their people's wellbeing and created many jobs.
4. Providing public goods to the world
China receives support from the international community in its own development process and stands ready to provide more public goods to the world. China is committed to building an open platform of cooperation, upholding and growing an open world economy, and working together with other countries to build a broad community of shared interests.
Proposing the Belt and Road Initiative. In the face of difficulties in world economic development, China put forward the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013. While the proposal was initiated by China, the opportunities and achievements belong to the world. The Belt and Road Initiative plays an important role in promoting in-depth cooperation and common development between countries and regions, upholding and growing an open world economy, making economic globalization open, inclusive, balanced, win-win and beneficial to all and advancing the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.
Since 2013, more than 80 countries and international organizations have signed cooperation agreements with China. The in-depth and practical cooperation between China and relevant countries has achieved fruitful results. From 2013 to 2017, the total value of China's trade with other Belt and Road countries exceeded USD5 trillion, and total investment by Chinese enterprises in these countries exceeded USD70 billion. By the end of 2017, Chinese enterprises had set up 75 overseas economic and trade cooperation zones in relevant countries, contributed more than USD1.6 billion taxes to the host countries and created 220,000 local jobs. Within three years starting from 2018, China will provide RMB60 billion worth of aid to the developing countries and international organizations participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, with a view to developing more projects to improve people's lives.
Hosting the China International Import Expo. Initiated by China, the China International Import Expo (CIIE) will bring together multiple international organizations and more than 100 countries. It is an international public product that promotes inclusive and mutually beneficial development around the globe. The inaugural session of CIIE will be held in November 2018. Hosting the CIIE is an important decision made by China to promote a new round of high-level opening-up, a major policy measure of China to further open its market to the world, and a concrete action by China to support economic globalization and trade liberalization. In the coming 15 years, China is expected to import USD24 trillion worth of goods. The CIIE will provide new export opportunities for the world, build a new platform for other countries and regions to share China's development dividends, and bring more dynamism to world economic growth.
