(Zhu Zhiyan, Assistant Research Fellow of the Institute of Social Science, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences)

On May 14, 2017, President Xi Jinping delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of the first Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, making the promise that the country would host the China International Import Expo (CIIE) starting from 2018. When presiding over a symposium that marked the fifth anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative on August 27, 2018, President Xi said that in advancing the initiative, we should transition from making high-level plans to intensive and meticulous implementation. The first CIIE, the world's first import-themed expo at the national level, was held from November 5 to 10, 2018. At the opening ceremony of the first CIIE, President Xi stressed that the CIIE would be held on an annual basis. The second CIIE is scheduled to take place from November 5 to 10, 2019. The CIIE, the world’s first import-themed national-level exhibition, is a significant move for the Chinese government to give firm support to trade liberalization and economic globalization and actively open the Chinese market to the world. The Belt and Road Initiative has brought about more opportunities for the construction of Belt and Road countries, whereas the CIIE, as a platform for the implementation of the initiative, is bound to be an incentive to the Belt and Road Initiative.

As the world's first import-themed expo at the national level, the CIIE has attracted a total of more than 1,000 enterprises from nearly 100 countries. Many Belt and Road countries attended the CIIE and set up booths in the Country Pavilion for Trade and Investment, showing great expectation for and thinking highly of both the CIIE and the Belt and Road Initiative. Thanks to the CIIE, the businessmen from the Belt and Road countries now are able to do business with the enterprises across China. It would have taken them a much longer time without the CIIE. In the first CIIE in 2018, the intended purchases with the Belt and Road partner countries reached $4.72bn. Platforms within national territory but outside customs territory, such as Chongqing International Bonded Goods Exhibition and Trading Centre, have also benefited from the spillover effects of the first CIIE which lasted only 6 days. Currently, China boasts a stable macro economy and remarkable growth in consumption, resulting in great demand for the import of resources products and consumption goods from the countries along the Belt and Road. Green agricultural products, primary materials and specialty goods from the Belt and Road countries have been widely popular in the Chinese market. The Chinese market is extremely inclusive and the economies of the Belt and Road countries are mutually complementary to a significant degree, as evidenced by the fact that the integrated circuit products imported through Shanghai Customs in the first 8 months of 2019 amounted to 50.35bn yuan with a year-on-year increase of 7.3%, accounting for 14.9% of the total value of imports from the Belt and Road countries. “We come here with the intention of meeting more Chinese businessmen and consumers here. The CIIE is an ingenious idea and thanks to it, we’ve had many more opportunities to tap this world’s largest market,” said Barnaev Nodirbek, head of the Uzbekistan Pavilion in the second CIIE.

The rapid development of the CIIE has provided a great impetus to the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative. For the enterprises, it provides a platform for communication and brand exposure. Moreover, it can better promote the Chinese culture by combining the unique features of the Belt and Road countries, helping the Chinese culture further go global. The Belt and Road Initiative will lead the global village onto a path towards prosperity and civilization. The Chinese people is more than happy to share with the world an open market and contribute its own share to trade liberalization. The people across the whole world should join their hands and pursue global prosperity. The CIIE, one of the efforts to establish a community with a shared future for mankind, exemplifies the new opportunities brought by the Belt and Road Initiative to the world.