Import expo shows China is further opening for business with the world

That President Xi Jinping will attend the opening ceremony of the 2nd China International Import Expo in Shanghai on Nov 5, as he did the first last year, indicates the great significance the world’s second-largest economy attaches to the events, which are part of its efforts to develop an open trading network.

Although the overall exhibition area this year has enlarged to 360,000 square meters from 300,000 sq m last year, it remains difficult for the more than 3,000 exhibitors from more than 150 countries and regions registered for the expo to grab a booth each, demonstrating the strong desire of foreign companies to elbow into the Chinese market by means of the expo.

So far, half a million purchasing agents and individual visitors have registered for the expo. And 18 provincial-level regions and municipalities will showcase their businesses, industries and intangible cultural heritage through more than 140 activities held during the expo. That will provide the foreign companies with direct access to local markets in the vast country.

The expo, the largest of its kind worldwide, is substantiation of China’s decision to further open up its economy and testimony to its promotion of more inclusive economic globalization.

Through actively integrating into the world economy, China has not only been a beneficiary of economic globalization, it has also been an essential contributor to it, and the import expo not only promotes the flow of advanced and high-quality products and services into China, it is also a concrete move to counter the trade barriers implemented by some countries.

According to official statistics, the attendees at the first expo agreed deals in sectors such as smart manufacturing, food and agricultural products, automotives, consumer electronics and home appliances and services.

But apart from establishing it as a platform for enterprises to tap the Chinese market, China is committed to turning the expo into a means to synergize global efforts to uphold and advance free trade.

It is notable that 64 countries and three international organizations will take part in an exhibition organized specifically to introduce their development achievements, business environments, characteristic industries and their policies, and that more than 300 activities related to trade and investment facilitation will be held on the sidelines of the expo.

Among these, the second Hongqiao International Economic Forum is a major one, with more than 4,000 people from around the world registered to attend the forum, which has the theme of opening-up innovation.

The first expo demonstrated its potential to provide new channels for countries and regions to do business, strengthen cooperation and promote common prosperity, the second expo can further deliver on this promise.