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November 11, 2020

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China shows pledge to globalization and free trade by embracing reform and opening-up

This year’s China International Import Exposition, which closed yesterday, is a testimony to the country’s resolve to push forward with reform and opening-up.

As President Xi Jinping said in a keynote video speech at the opening ceremony on November 4, “our aim is to turn the China market into a market for the world, a market shared by all, and a market accessible to all.” To achieve such a goal, Xi stressed nurturing new pacesetters of opening-up, growing foreign trade innovatively, improving business environment, and deepening bilateral, multilateral and regional cooperation.

The success of the weeklong expo is a vote of confidence in Chinese economy, since the event had taken place as scheduled following the country’s successful containment of COVID-19.

The participation of so many multinational companies is also phenomenal, for many countries are still trying to come to grips with the raging pandemic.

The expo attests to the resilience and vigor of the Chinese economy.

Despite lingering effects of COVID-19, China posted positive economic growth in the first three quarters, reversing a negative narrative from the first half of this year.

The International Monetary Fund predicted last month that China’s economy is expected to grow 1.9 percent this year, almost twice as much as previously forecast, tagging the country as the only major nation likely to expand in the face of the novel coronavirus.

China’s foreign trade expanded 4.6 percent year on year in October, with exports jumping 7.6 percent year on year and imports climbing 0.9 percent in yuan terms, China’s General Administration of Customs said in a recent statement.

The October figures have shown the latest sign that China’s “rapid economic recovery from coronavirus is strengthening its role in global trade,” the Financial Times reported recently.

“Trade activity has contributed to China’s recovery from the pandemic, at a time when other economies are still grappling with its impact,” said the report.

The expo is not only productive of business collaboration. It also affords insights into how different countries could stand together to tackle the common threat of the pandemic.

In spite of the coronavirus and thanks to China’s successful balancing of the control effort with the need for socioeconomic development, the expo signals China’s commitment to economic globalization, free trade and openness.

In this sense, the CIIE is more than a Chinese story. Through what it practices, China is contributing to the perception of certainties for the rest of the world in these turbulent times.

In addition to providing a platform for international business to exchange and share, the expo is also a good opportunity for China to learn from others.

‘Spillover effects’

The CIIE has generated “spillover effects” that keep accelerating the reception of many innovative products in China.

By catching up with its international counterparts in terms of state-of-the-art products, technology, ideas and principles, Chinese entrepreneurs can avail themselves of this opportunity to foster their innovative spirit and broaden their horizon.

Predictably, pushing forward with the opening-up at a higher level will positively impact China’s industrial restructuring, consumption upgrade and improvement of business environment.

Given the size of Chinese economy, the stepped-up opening-up and strengthened interaction with the global economy will also translate into more opportunities and dividends for global businesses.

It is easy to see that the diversity of so many new, smart and trendy products, while indicators of China’s market demand and potential, also points to what further international cooperation could achieve.

From a long-term perspective, the vastness of the China market lies not only in its distributive nature but, more importantly, in its creative potency.

When its growth potential becomes fully tapped, the economy will continue to evince considerable upward momentum for high-quality development.

Given the degree of global economic integration today, China’s avowed establishment of a new development paradigm of “dual circulation” — with domestic circulation as the mainstay, and domestic and international circulations reinforcing each other — is not a simple choice of domestic or international. When China’s domestic circulation becomes more smooth, the global production and supply chains will be more stabilized.

It points to the necessity of the integration of both. The better communication between the two markets will necessarily lead to opening-up at a higher level.

Obviously, the CIIE serves as a bridge facilitating a healthy interplay between the two circulations.




 

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