China on Thursday reaffirmed its commitment to opening wider and sharing 
development opportunities with the world. It pledged to further expand import 
and "pursue balanced development of trade." 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LItP2fA_Ps8

The country also called on the international community to promote and improve 
economic globalization while rejecting unilateralism and protectionism. 

"We will not change our resolve to open wider at a high standard; we will not 
change our determination to share development opportunities with the rest of 
the world; and we will not change our commitment to an economic globalization 
that is more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial for all," Chinese 
President Xi Jinping said when delivering a keynote speech via video at the 4th 
China International Import Expo (CIIE). 

Launched in 2018, the annual CIIE is the first dedicated import exhibition in 
the world. This year's expo is scheduled from Friday to next Wednesday in 
Shanghai, east China.

20th anniversary of China's WTO accession

This year marks the 20th anniversary of China's accession to the World Trade 
Organization (WTO). Xi reviewed the country's progress in deepening reform and 
expanding openness during the past two decades. 

"China has fully delivered on its accession commitments," he said. "Its overall 
tariff rate has been cut from 15.3 percent to 7.4 percent, lower than the 9.8 
percent accession commitment." 

China's central government has reviewed and revised over 2,300 laws and 
regulations, and local governments have reviewed and revised 190,000, he added.

To facilitate the global fight against COVID-19, China has provided about 350 
billion masks and over 1.6 billion doses of vaccines to the international 
community, he noted. 

China has grown from the world's sixth-largest economy to the second largest 
over the past two decades; meanwhile, its trade in goods has grown from the 
sixth to the largest in the world, and trade in services from the 11th to the 
second, according to Xi.  

"The past 20 years have witnessed a China deepening reform and pursuing 
all-round opening-up, a China seizing opportunities and rising to challenges, 
and a China stepping up to its responsibilities and benefiting the whole 
world," he said, describing opening as the "hallmark of contemporary China."

China to 'lay more emphasis on expanding import'

The CIIE is an important platform to promote global free trade and 
international cooperation. From 2018 to 2020, the intended turnover of the 
previous three expos reached about $201.6 billion. The 4th CIIE is expected to 
attract nearly 3,000 businesses from 127 countries and regions. 

China has been the world's second-largest importer for 11 consecutive years, 
according to the Ministry of Commerce. And Xi said the country will make more 
efforts to boost import. 

"China will open more demonstration zones for creative promotion of import 
trade, optimize the catalog of retail imports via cross-border e-commerce, 
encourage the on-site processing of imported goods from trading between border 
residents, and increase imports from neighboring countries," he announced. 

China's total imports and exports expanded 22.7 percent year on year to 28.33 
trillion yuan (about $4.38 trillion) in the first three quarters of 2021, data 
from the General Administration of Customs showed. Both exports and imports 
continued double-digit growth in the first nine months of the year, surging 
22.7 percent and 22.6 percent from a year earlier, respectively.
 
"Going forward, China will lay more emphasis on expanding import, and pursue 
balanced development of trade," Xi said.

The country will firmly safeguard true multilateralism, share market 
opportunities with the rest of the world, promote high-standard opening-up, and 
uphold the common interests of the world, he stressed. 

China will shorten the negative list for foreign investment, and revise and 
enlarge the encouraged industry catalog to guide more foreign investment toward 
sectors such as advanced manufacturing, modern services, high and new 
technology, energy conservation and environmental protection, he said. 
China will "work actively for joining the Comprehensive and Progressive 
Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)," he said. The country has 
officially applied to join the CPTPP, a free trade agreement between 11 
countries, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam. 

Xi added that China will promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation to 
bring more benefits to countries taking part in the initiative. 

"China stands ready to work with all countries to build an open world economy 
so that the spring breeze of openness will bring warmth to all parts of the 
world," he said.

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-11-04/Xi-Jinping-addresses-opening-ceremony-of-CIIE-14V5bYl3lny/index.html


SOURCE: CGTN