A SIGNIFICANT SIGNAL
CIIE’S status as a top trade platform confirmed
The Third China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai opened against a backdrop of the worst worldwide economic recession seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and a growing backlash against globalization. So it became a significant platform for countries and regions to strengthen economic and trade cooperation at a time when the existing global trade order is increasingly under strain due to the United States’ unilateral and protectionist economic policy.
“This year’s CIIE is convened at a special time,” President Xi Jinping said in his keynote address at the opening ceremony of the CIIE on November 4. “COVID-19, which caught us all by surprise, has hit countries hard and dealt a heavy blow to the world economy. As scheduled and confident in the containment protocols that have been put in place, China is hosting this global trade event. It demonstrates China’s sincere desire to share its market opportunities with the world and contribute to global economic recovery.”
China’s economy is on the right track now. The economic data for the first three quarters of the year released by the National Bureau of Statistics, including indicators such as the purchasing manager’s index, electricity generation and consumption, prices, imports and exports, and finance, has backed up the trend.
Retail sales of consumer goods in August reached 3.3 trillion yuan ($490 billion), with a year-on-year increase of 0.5 percent, marking the first positive growth this year. In September, the growth momentum continued, demonstrating strong consumer confidence and development potential.
Macroeconomists and Chinese economic policy experts say China’s macroeconomy will continue to follow a “V”-shaped rebound in the last quarter of 2020. Despite the complicated domestic and foreign environments, China’s economy has continued to recover steadily, and development momentum has increased.
Xi, who personally planned the CIIE, once said the expo should not only be a regular annual event but should become better and better. In his address, he presented a new vista for all participating countries and regions to enhance pragmatic cooperation with a more open China. China’s march to build an open global economy would continue.
This year, due to epidemic prevention and control requirements, the number of people inside the expo was kept below 30 percent of the maximum capacity. But despite the limited number of visitors and despite having an online version, the expo did not shrink. Its 30,000-square-meter exhibition area was larger than last year’s.
During the past 41 years, China has pursued economic reform and an opening-up policy and emerged as a driving force of the multilateral global trade system. The CIIE renewed China’s commitment to rules-based global trade while providing greater market access to foreign firms.
One of the biggest concerns of the world has been China’s new development strategy. Xi indicated China would continue with the strategy: “Answering to the changing circumstances and new requirements, we have set out to foster a new development paradigm with domestic circulation as the mainstay and domestic and international circulations reinforcing each other.”
However, he also allayed the concerns, saying China, while developing the domestic market, will continue to open up to foreign investment and sharing its resources. “What we envision is not a development loop behind closed doors, but more open domestic and international circulations. We will do so not only to meet China’s own development needs but also for the greater benefit of people in all countries,” he said.
The CIIE’S status as one of China’s top trade and connectivity platforms was affirmed at the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in October. The meeting’s proposed measures for the 14th Five-year Plan (2021-25) include increasing the import of high-quality products and giving full play to the role of key trade platforms such as the CIIE.
What makes the China International Import Expo (CIIE) special this year is its organization at a time when the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) remains a pandemic outside China with many countries going into a second phase of lockdown following a resurgence of cases. Amid the rising uncertainty and frustration, the development in Asia can generate some optimism about the future, China’s example in particular.
BMW China’s President and CEO Jochen Goller recently said China was the first major global economy to successfully contain COVID-19 and this paved the way for smooth recovery of businesses.
The protection of public health is a prerequisite for the national economy to restart. Though the virus caught China by surprise, after the initial shock, the Chinese Government embarked on an unprecedented attempt to control the epidemic. The protracted multifaceted efforts yielded results and now although remaining vigilant, China has taken solid steps to return to a new normalcy, both at the public health and economic levels.
In his keynote speech at the opening ceremony of this year’s CIIE, President Xi Jinping also referred to the “special time” in which the expo was held. China’s role becomes more important in a period when the suffering world economy is looking for a relaunch.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast in its updated World Economic Outlook report last month that the Chinese economy would expand 1.9 percent this year and 8.2 percent in 2021. In July, the World Bank had predicted a lower growth at 1.6 percent. The IMF revision shows China’s recovery pace is improving in the course of time.
CNN Business used World Bank data to calculate that China’s economy would be equivalent to 17.5 percent of the global GDP by the end of the year, increasing its share by about 1.1 percentage points. A Bloomberg analysis based on IMF data said China’s contribution to post-pandemic world growth could reach 26.8 percent in 2021.
Against this backdrop, the CIIE was an international public event for the world to share in, now that global cooperation is becoming more important than ever. The expansion of the CIIE exhibition area this year indicated the appetite of Chinese and international companies to look for synergies that include trade but are not limited to it.
Global accounting firm Deloitte, which has participated in all CIIES since its inception in 2018, posted the message on its website that “only by connecting the world can we share the future” and its booth at the CIIE adopted an interactive design to present its innovative and digital solutions aiming at improving businesses’ digital transformation.
Economic globalization is alive and will survive the ongoing turmoil. But nuanced approaches are expected from countries setting up their new post-pandemic economic strategies.
Xi presented China’s policy, promising further opening up. This encompasses lower barriers and new opportunities for foreign enterprises and envisages a stronger domestic market where innovation and technology will be the keywords.
His commitment to high-quality development for China is not new but represents a continuity in policy, even if adjustments are made in response to the uncertainties.
All in all, the 2020 CIIE matters for two main reasons. The first is the message of confidence it sends that economic life needs to continue even in times of crises. In October, Chinese exports grew at the fastest pace in 19 months, rising 11.4 percent on last year’s volume, official data showed. Imports remained strong in October, growing 4.7 percent year on year after a 13.2-percent surge in September.
The second reason is the CIIE’S connecting nature, with the domestic and international markets collaborating. This is in line with China’s dual circulation strategy in the new era, which means the Chinese market emerging stronger but remaining accessible to the rest of the world.