CIIE looks to continue opening-up policy

President Xi Jinping will deliver a speech via video at the opening ceremony of the fifth China International Import Expo and the Hongqiao International Economic Forum on Friday, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday.

The opening ceremony will be held in Shanghai, said Shu Jueting, the spokeswoman.

The China International Import Expo, which is evolving into an international public good for the world to share, is becoming an increasingly important platform for China to expand high-standard opening-up and propel high-quality development amid rising protectionism in the world, according to experts and business leaders.

The CIIE is the world's first dedicated import expo. In the past four years, it has led to fruitful outcomes, and it will continue to be a great channel for global players to tap into the Chinese market, they said.

It is scheduled to be held at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai from Saturday to Nov 10 and has attracted participants from more than 145 countries, regions and international organizations, the CIIE Bureau said.

A total of 284 Fortune Global 500 enterprises and world leaders representing various industries will participate in the enterprise exhibitions this time around, a number exceeding last year's total. Nearly 90 percent of the exhibitors participated in the previous event.

Zhou Mi, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation in Beijing, said with the conclusion of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the country is embarking on a new journey toward modernization.

"It prompts us to promote cooperation with others in the world, especially as the rising protectionism in some countries is hurting international cooperation and trust," Zhou said.

"Under such circumstances, the CIIE, an innovative and high-quality platform, will be of significant value for expanding China's opening-up, boosting two-way trade, facilitating high-quality development and adding trust to multilateralism," Zhou said.

The CIIE Bureau said many new products, technologies and services to be exhibited during the expo will be making their debut in China, Asia or the world, at the event.

Sheng Qiuping, vice-minister of commerce, said at an earlier news conference that the CIIE has been playing an active role in promoting industrial and consumption upgrades, improving supply in the domestic market, and facilitating the establishment of the new dual-circulation development pattern, which takes the domestic market as the mainstay while letting domestic and foreign markets reinforce each other.

Hong Junjie, vice-president of the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, said the CIIE has demonstrated the strong resilience of the Chinese economy, as well as the huge attraction of the country's supersized market.

"The event opens a window for global enterprises to further understand China. It has also showed to the world China's unwavering commitment to actively expanding opening-up and sharing development opportunities and dividends with the rest of the world, which will significantly help stabilize confidence in the world economy," Hong said.

Global enterprises participating in the expo also said they are confident about their development prospects in China, thanks to the country's firm determination to expand opening-up and share development dividends with foreign enterprises.

They spoke especially highly of the benefits the CIIE has brought them.

"Despite the uncertainty of the external environment, the CIIE is being held offline as planned. It is this kind of certainty that gives the world even more confidence in China's sure-footedness and determination to grow with its global partners," said Pietro Brambilla, chief financial officer of L'Oreal North Asia and China.

"Looking over the past five years we can truly say the CIIE has spawned huge benefits far beyond China's borders, allowing companies to experience solid gains and enjoy tremendous progress," he said.

Bob Bradway, chairman and CEO of Amgen, a US biotech company, said the CIIE exemplifies China's robust economic growth, strength in innovation and increasing openness to win-win collaboration with other countries.

Mike Mussallem, chairman and CEO of Edwards Lifesciences, a US medical firm, said the CIIE enables multinational organizations to have opportunities for greater collaboration with China, and the company expects to demonstrate innovations and forge new and greater cooperation with more Chinese clinicians and partners through the CIIE.

Adele Tao, senior vice-president of Lixil Group, a Japanese plumbing products provider, also said multinationals can share more of "China's opportunities" and "world opportunities" to achieve openness and win-win results through the CIIE.

Lixil hopes to strengthen ties with China and other countries, enhance trade development and cooperation around the world, and explore the possibilities of sustainable living through CIIE's expanding "circle of friends", she said.