The 7th China International Import Expo: collaborating for opportunities and creating a shared future - 2024-11-06
From November 5 to 10, 2024, the 7th China International Import Expo (CIIE) will be held in Shanghai. Representatives from 152 countries, regions, and international organizations, along with 3,496 exhibitors, are expected to engage in face-to-face discussions with hundreds of thousands of professional visitors. The event aims to foster open cooperation, share development opportunities, and collaboratively build a prosperous future. The CIIE, personally conceived, organized, and advocated by President Xi Jinping, represents a significant initiative through which China actively opens its market to the global community. The 20th CPC National Congress emphasized that openness is a distinctive symbol of Chinese modernization, and called for the acceleration of the establishment of a new open economic system. The CIIE serves as a tangible embodiment of this directive. By leveraging its functions in international procurement, investment promotion, cultural exchanges, and open cooperation, the CIIE exemplifies China's unwavering policy and commitment to advancing its opening-up initiatives. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee also advocated for accelerating the establishment of a new development paradigm and advancing the strategic framework for high-level openness. As a concrete implementation for this strategy, the CIIE promotes the interconnection of domestic and foreign markets by showcasing China's open approach toward new technologies, products, and services. It provides a platform for communication and collaboration among companies, thereby facilitating the acceleration of a new development paradigm.
In May 2017, Chinese President Xi Jinping solemnly announced at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation that "China will hold the China International Import Expo from 2018". As the world's first national-level expo centered on imports, the CIIE has continued to expand its "circle of friends" over the past six years, while its achievements have become increasingly impressive. This underscores China's dedication to upholding its commitments to greater openness. According to relevant statistics, since the successful holding of the first CIIE in November 2018, the exhibition area has expanded from an initial 300,000 square meters to over 420,000 square meters this year. The intended transaction volume has similarly risen, increasing from US$57.83 billion at the first CIIE to US$78.41 billion at the sixth CIIE, reflecting an average annual growth rate exceeding 6%. With the launch of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the advancing implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative, the CIIE continues to broaden its "circle of friends". Companies from RCEP member countries have actively participated in the exhibition, and the number of exhibitors from countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has also demonstrated a consistent year-on-year increase. Simultaneously, the caliber of exhibitors at the CIIE has been continually rising. The number of Fortune 500 companies participating in the exhibition has increased from 220 during the first session to 289 in the sixth session, with their share of total exhibitors rising from 6.1% to 8.5%. In the first six sessions of the CIIE, nearly 2,500 representative new products, technologies, and services have been unveiled, resulting in a cumulative intended transaction volume exceeding US$420 billion. Additionally, more than 1,130 foreign-funded companies and investment promotion agencies have been organized to engage in targeted matchmaking across various regions, leading many exhibitors to establish new stores, factories, and research and development centers in China.
As a significant new platform for China's high-level openness, the CIIE not only directly facilitates the development of trade and investment, it also bears the crucial responsibility of advancing high-level openness, particularly in piloting institutional innovations related to imports. In recent years, the CIIE has undertaken a series of initiatives focused on institutional and policy innovation, gradually driving significant breakthroughs in opening up. Despite being hosted in Shanghai, the CIIE exerts a significant influence that extends across the entire Yangtze River Delta region and even nationwide. This influence generates strong spillover effects, facilitating coordinated development among different regions. For instance, the Yangtze River Delta E-commerce Center has emerged as a pivotal hub for various trade entities to leverage the spillover benefits generated by the CIIE. Furthermore, the CIIE presents a significant opportunity for Chinese enterprises to engage closely with advanced technologies and products, facilitating their technological advancement and industrial upgrading through access to global technological resources. In the consecutive sessions held in the past six years, the CIIE has established itself as the premier launch platform for global new products, the preferred destination for cutting-edge technologies, and the primary venue for innovative services.
In 2023, the global economy is gradually recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic; however, the basis for sustainable growth remains unstable, and disparities in the economic conditions across nations are continuing to intensify. According to the latest economic outlook report from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the global economic growth rate was 2.9% in 2023 and is projected to decelerate to 2.7% in 2024, indicating a decline in economic growth for three consecutive years. According to the World Trade Organization (WTO), the volume of global trade in goods will increase by 2.6% in 2024. However, developed countries are increasingly geopoliticizing and broadening the security implications of economic and trade issues. This trend has led to the disintegration of supply chains and trade fragmentation, significantly hindering the recovery and growth of the global economy. Consequently, the volume of global goods trade may decline by 1.6%.
Currently, the world is experiencing an unprecedented transformation not seen in a century, with rising instability and uncertainty factors impacting the global economy. As developed countries, emerging economies, and developing nations increasingly prioritize the attraction and utilization of foreign capital, international competition in investment promotion has intensified. According to data from the Ministry of Commerce of P.R.C, the actual utilization of foreign capital in 2023 amounted to RMB 1.13391 trillion, representing a year-on-year decrease of 8.0%. Furthermore, from January to September 2024, the actual utilization of foreign capital was RMB 640.6 billion, indicating a year-on-year decline of 30.4%. This shows that China currently faces considerable challenges in attracting foreign capital. As a significant economic and diplomatic event following the successful convening of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, the 7th China International Import Expo (CIIE) serves as a bellwether for the global community, facilitating a better understanding of China's policy direction towards comprehensive reform. It underscores China's confidence and determination to advance substantive reform, promote high-quality development, and encourage elevated levels of openness. Furthermore, it is crucial for leveraging China's vast market advantages, converting more exhibits into commodities and exhibitors into investors, thereby bolstering foreign investment confidence and stabilizing the foundation of our foreign investment and trade. Furthermore, this CIIE facilitates the enhancement of consensus on open cooperation, promotes the establishment of an open world economy, and highlights the positive trajectory of China's economic recovery.
In the new era, China is using the concept of Chinese modernization as a guiding principle to comprehensively advance the grand mission of national prosperity and rejuvenation. China will steadfastly uphold its fundamental national policy of opening up, leveraging openness to promote reform and fully capitalize on the advantages of its vast market. By expanding international cooperation, the country aims to continuously enhance its level of openness and establish a new, more open economic system. The 7th CIIE will once again showcase China’s steadfast commitment and tangible actions toward promoting high-level openness, highlighting the country’s pivotal role in continuing to lead the global trend of opening up. By further deepening reform and opening up and expanding its openness to the world, China will continue to unleash economic dynamism and share development opportunities globally.
The author is Zhan Yubo, a researcher fellow at the Institute of Economics, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.
Source: Touch Shanghai
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