President Xi Jinping delivered a keynote speech via video link at the opening ceremony of the third China International Import Expo and Hongqiao International Economic Forum on Wednesday. Here are some highlights.
On CIIE
- The hosting of the third CIIE demonstrates the country's sincere desire to share its market opportunities with the world and contribute to global economic recovery.
- The exhibition area of the third CIIE has expanded by nearly 30,000 square meters.
- A zone on public health and epidemic prevention has been added at the third CIIE, attracting many Fortune Global 500 corporations and leading firms in relevant sectors.
On China's opening-up over the past year
- Notwithstanding COVID-19, the pace of opening-up in China has continued to quicken.
- China has taken steady steps to expand imports, with imports of goods and services outpacing the global average.
- The number of China's pilot free trade zones has increased from 18 to 21.
- The items on the national negative list for foreign investment have been cut from 40 to 33.
- Sound progress has been registered in advancing high-quality Belt and Road cooperation.
On openness and cooperation
- All countries should commit to mutual opening-up that features shared benefits: Solidarity and cooperation are the right choices to make in meeting challenges; Countries should uphold the principle of mutually beneficial cooperation, build trust rather than second-guess each other, join hands rather than throw punches at each other, and consult rather than slander each other.
- All countries should commit to mutual opening-up that features shared responsibilities: Countries must work together as partners, with each shouldering its due responsibility; Big countries need to lead by example, major economies need to act on sound principles, and developing countries need to play an active part in promoting opening up and sharing responsibilities.
- All countries should commit to mutual opening-up that features shared governance: The international community must not allow unilateralism or protectionism to undermine the international order and international rules; Countries should safeguard the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization as its cornerstone.
On new stage for China's development
- China will begin a new journey toward fully building a modern socialist country from next year on, which will mark a new stage for China's development.
- China's fostering of a new development paradigm, which takes the domestic circulation as the mainstay while allowing domestic and international circulations to reinforce each other, is "not a development loop behind closed doors".
- China will push for more open domestic and international circulations for not only China's own development needs but also the greater benefit of people in all countries.
- China's huge market is the most promising in the world.
- China's goods import is estimated to top $22 trillion in the coming decade.
On China's plans for further opening-up
- China aims to turn itself into market for world.
- China will introduce negative list for cross-border services trade; It will open wider in areas like the digital economy and the internet to the outside world; It will make institutional innovations to support an open economy of higher standards.
- China will pursue creative ways to grow foreign trade: It will continue to support companies from around the world in exploring business opportunities in the country; It will encourage cross-border e-commerce and other new business forms and models to grow even quicker to foster new drivers of foreign trade; It will shorten catalog of technologies prohibited or restricted from import to create a favorable environment for the free flow of technologies across borders.
- China will keep improving its business environment: It has further shortened the negative list on foreign investment this year; It will continue to make its foreign-related legal framework more open and transparent, and strengthen intellectual property protection.
- China will pursue deeper bilateral, multilateral and regional cooperation: China stands ready to sign high-standard free trade agreements with more countries in the world.
It will work for the early signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, speed up negotiations on a China-EU investment treaty and a China-Japan-ROK free trade agreement, look forward to more exchanges and mutual learning with high-standard free trade areas in other parts of the world.
It will take an active part in WTO reform and in cooperation at the United Nations, the G20, APEC, BRICS and other fora.
It will work with related countries to promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation.