进博会是中国向世界展示其开放承诺的名片。 - 2025-11-06
The 8th China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai
The 8th China International Import Expo (CIIE) opened in Shanghai on Wednesday. As China's first major economic diplomacy event following the fourth plenary session of the 20th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, this year's CIIE has drawn strong international attention. The CIIE features 4,108 overseas exhibitors from 155 countries, regions, and international organizations, and also includes more than a hundred supporting events - including the Hongqiao International Economic Forum, trade negotiations, and investment promotion activities - which have built communication bridges that share prosperity with all countries, further strengthening and deepening the consensus on openness and cooperation. According to a Reuters report, the CIIE was launched under President Xi Jinping and was first held in 2018 to promote China's free trade credentials.
Many exhibitors have said the certainty of China's development and its openness are the reasons they believe in China and choose to invest here. The Recommendations of the Central Committee of the CPC for Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development make systematic arrangements in four respects: opening China wider to the outside world, promoting the innovative development of trade, expanding two-way investment cooperation, and pursuing high-quality Belt and Road cooperation - thus outlining a new blueprint for high‑level opening‑up. At the same time, the Chinese economy has a solid foundation, advantages in many areas, strong resilience, and great potential. China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 5.2 percent year-on-year in the first three quarters of 2025, and the country has affirmed that over the coming five years it will continue to pursue high-quality development as its main focus - all of which together provide a firm foundation for domestic and foreign enterprises to work together toward the future.
International observers note that the Import Expo provides a predictable stream of orders and a sustainable market space for a wide range of enterprises, and that the scale, innovative capacity and certainty of China's vast market are rare resources for global economic development and represent a major opportunity. At a time when global cross-border investment remains sluggish and trade growth is slowing, China constantly transforms the potential of its domestic circulation into international public demand. Having remained the world's second-largest import market for 16 consecutive years, and with its middle-income population projected to exceed 800 million in the next decade, China's vast market is evolving from a traditional "consumer market for goods" into a global "launch pad, testing ground, and application hub" for new technologies and business models, embodying the profound message that "walking with China means walking with opportunities."
Globally, expos are not uncommon, but the Import Expo - centered on "imports" and continuously delivering institutional dividends - remains unique to this day. The "new" features of this year's CIIE are truly inspiring, and that its deeper significance lies in advancing and upholding a fair, open, inclusive, and win-win international economic order. New initiatives include launching a "Cross-Border E-Commerce Preferred Platform" to help global enterprises connect with the Chinese market; showcasing 461 new products, technologies, and services, nearly half of which are global debuts. While welcoming US companies - which have ranked first in exhibition area for seven consecutive years - to secure more orders, the CIIE has also, for the first time, set up a special section for products from least developed countries to help them and 53 African countries with diplomatic ties with China utilize zero-tariff treatment and better share the opportunities of China's vast market. These innovations highlight the CIIE's vitality of keeping abreast with the times, and also reflect China's values of an ethical approach to justice and its own interests by putting justice before its own interests. At the CIIE, people see that openness and cooperation are the "golden key" to resolving global development challenges.
It is worth noting that the day before the CIIE opened, the 138th Canton Fair concluded; this week, China extended its visa-free policy to countries such as France and added Sweden to the list. In the East, one exhibition follows another, pilot free trade zones continue to expand, and the negative list for foreign investment keeps shrinking. China's institutional opening-up is accelerating, creating ever more opportunities for shared global development. This long-term commitment to high-level opening-up has become a "golden hallmark" recognized, trusted, and embraced by the world, proving that China's concepts and practices not only meet the needs of global businesses but also align with the trend of the times.
China's economy is an ocean, and so is the world's economy. All the seas and oceans of the world are interconnected. Amid the accelerating transformation of a century of change, no major country can achieve development on its own by taking the path of "shutting the door." As long as countries follow the trend of the times, uphold dialogue instead of confrontation, openness instead of isolation, and win-win cooperation instead of zero-sum rivalry, they can surely find the greatest common ground for mutual success. Leveraging the opportunities brought by the CIIE, diverse products from around the world have made their way onto Chinese consumers' shopping lists, while China's technological innovations have inspired global industrial transformation, injecting new momentum into the development of countries worldwide. This is the significance of the CIIE: it is China's business card to the world for its commitment to openness, as well as China's long-term commitment to the world.
Source: Global Times
