During the annual trade fair and exhibition held in Shanghai on Sunday, China has pledged to open its market to the rest of the world. While, on one side, during the event, European cooperations have criticized Chinese policy towards liberalization of its domestic market, on the other Beijing has come up with one more new pledge for opening its domestic market to get mutual benefits.
The Annual China International Import Expo, held on Sunday, opened with the introductory speech of Li Qiang, the 8th Premier of China. He stated that the country was dedicated to opening up its economy over the next five years and the government has targeted the import of products and services of approximately US$17 trillion. He further added that whatever changes would occur in the world, China’s commitment to shared and developmental opportunities through opening up its domestic market will never be stalled.
Key takeaways of the expo event
The import expo was launched by President Xi Jinping in 2018 for the first time to promote China’s free trade credentials. Participation in the last three years was curtailed due to the widespread Covid-19 pandemic. This event has been utilized by Beijing only not to showcase its commitment to shared development but also to criticise the unwanted trade surplus with many countries.
Source: The Columbian
This year, the event drew criticism even from the European Chamber of Commerce which branded this as the ‘political showcase’ and urged Beijing to enact meaningful and tangible measures to restore the trust for the European businesses. China, on the event, has further pledged to promote the coordinated development of trade in goods and services and protect the international legitimate business environment.
Xi’s administration also committed to relaxing the market norms including lifting restrictions on foreign investment in manufacturing, which is a crucial demand of the global business community for long. Li in his speech cited the examples of businesses that had benefitted from the event, including an Afghan carpet maker and a Japanese Pharmaceutical firm.
Beijing officially confirmed that roughly 3,400 companies participated this year, among which 200 had been the repeat attendees nations for the last six years. Countries such as Australia and the US have sent their large delegation to the event including the representatives of Nestle, Burberry, and so on.
Significance of the Expo Event for China
China’s imports have slumped this year, amid the slowdown of the global economy. Following that another report highlighted that there is a possibility of get downtrend of the current economic slowdown. At the start of the first visit to China in seven years, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that “the dialogue and cooperation is in all our interests”.
Source: BNN network
The event will benefit all the participating countries to have a robust dialogue on the current scope and future implications to have an accessible market for the development and resilience of the economy. Chinese authorities also pledged to encourage the application of the Comprehensive Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Taiwan, Ukraine, Costa Rica, and Ecuador also applied to join the CPTPP- quoted by Li in his speech.
CPTPP- a landmark trade deal
CPTPP is a milestone trade pact in 2018, agreed upon by 11 countries including Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. China will consider the next row of applications for 12 members if they are eligible on certain parameters.
The expo event will enhance China’s visibility in the global business arena. Generally, China has been seen as a semi-close economy with limited access to its domestic market and with strict regulations for foreign traders. However, the pledge can be a new hope for the countries who have wanted to access the Chinese internal market for decades.
