CIIE – a new window for China’s opening-up

The China International Import Expo, a major initiative from China to expand imports of goods and services that wrapped up on Saturday, made national and international headlines for the significance it could carry for China and the world. The active participation of media delegates, political officials and business leaders from home and abroad added special value to the event.

The six-day CIIE held in Shanghai had tangible benefits in four aspects: First, the event signals China’s intention for opening wider to the outside world. China has declared that it is against unilateral policy and a zero-sum game and will open its door wider to foreign enterprises to enter the Chinese market, which has more than 1.3 billion consumers and more than $10 trillion demand in goods and services in the coming five years.

In the first six months of this year, China completed revising the negative list for foreign investment and decided to further widen market access to foreign entrepreneurs. China is  expanding opening-up in the financial sector and the services industry.

Second, China is seeking to pursue a win-win strategy through expanding the volume of its trade with the world and the CIIE proved very fruitful in this regard. The business deals at the expo reportedly reached $57.83 billion – which included $16.5 billion worth of smart equipment, $12.7 in billion good and agricultural products, $12 billion in automobiles, $5.8 billion in medical equipment and medical care products, $4.3 billion in electronic products and home appliances, $3.4 billion in consumer goods and clothes and $3.2 billion in service trade. The total deals with BRI countries reached $4.7 billion. Hence, trade deals between China and other countries are the very win-win result being stressed by Chinese officials.

Third, the CIIE was a platform for Chinese and foreign enterprises to strike deals with each other and have friendly exchanges and dialogue. Briefing foreign journalists, Pan Jianjun, the spokesman of Bright Food (Group) Co Ltd, said the food company could communicate with some foreign enterprises and view their products in the CIIE without going out. It was a good opportunity for Chinese enterprises to strike deals with foreign companies at the Shanghai expo, purchase their products and sell products from their own companies, he added.

Similarly, Director of the Afghan Expo Commission Omer Rahimi, who also was running the Afghan Pavilion, said the CIIE was highly fruitful for world traders. Featuring Afghanistan’s handicrafts, precious stones, saffron, dried fruit and carpets, he said he was able to find a good market in China and the imported products were sold in large numbers.

“I have top experience in business and for nine years I have been doing business in China. Afghanistan’s lapis lazuli is sold across China and its carpets could find a good market here in China. At this expo, our carpets, saffron and dried fruit are being sold widely and our products are advertised for China and for the world,” Rahimi said.

To juxtapose the two statements, one will simply conclude the mutual benefit of the CIIE and the opportunities provided for both Chinese and foreign traders. It gave a chance for Chinese companies to go overseas and vice versa and shift from “made in China” to “made by China”.

Fourth, “sharing” is one of the essential characteristics of China, which also was featured in the CIIE under the theme of “New Era, Shared Future”. China is seeking to share the fruit of its development and enhance its cooperation with the rest of the world. China intends to intensify its cooperation and communication with other countries to jointly respond to global issues and emerge in the process of globalization. In other words, China is in pursuit of working hand-in-hand with its global trading partners to make economic globalization more open, inclusive and balanced.

Chinese vice-minister of commerce Fu Ziying aptly said that China has been a key engine for world economic recovery and growth since 2002 and contributed nearly 30 percent every year to global economic growth. China has become a major trading partner of more than 120 countries and regions during the past 40 years of its reform and opening-up, he said.

The author is an Afghan journalist and freelance writer based in Beijing.

The opinions expressed here are those of the writer and do not represent the views of China Daily and China Daily website.