Business scene helps boost growth

Alot of media friends have asked me what impressions I have of the fairs I’ve attended, from the Canton Fair in the early 1970s to the first China International Import Expo, which was held in Shanghai recently.

I told them that an export expo focuses mainly on the exporting country, but an import expo focuses on other countries, and not all countries in the world can organize a Shanghai-type import expo.

I helped to host the Canton Fair once, and participated in the China Hi-Tech Fair, but I have never seen an exhibition as exciting and promising as the import expo, with foreign businesspeople marveling at its sheer size and the huge number of participants. Just as the Kenyan trade minister said, if every Chinese gets used to a cup of coffee every day, the coffee they would consume would be more than five times Kenya’s total coffee yield. He also said he hoped Kenya could export more coffee to China.

When I accompanied former premier Zhu Rongji on his visit to Kenya, I saw coffee plantations on hillsides, and the Kenyan hosts said they hoped Chinese people would change their habit of drinking only tea.

An increasing number of Chinese people have taken to drinking coffee since then. More important, Chinese people have enormous consumption power, and China’s vast market and ever-expanding middle class bring benefits to not only the Chinese economy but also other economies.

When President Xi Jinping addressed the opening ceremony of the import expo, all the attendees welcomed him with a loud applause, suggesting they were pleased to promote their countries’ products at the expo on behalf of and for the interests of their peoples.

Spanish participants, for example, said their Spanish ham is nowhere as popular as in Shanghai. When we Chinese were poor, no one could afford to eat ham, let alone ham imported from Spain. China has moved from poverty to prosperity. As China works hard to become stronger, Chinese people’s appetite for more advanced and high-grade consumer goods keeps growing. That explains why Chinese visitors to the Shanghai expo showed more interest in household robots than those for industrial use.

Altogether, 679 Japanese manufacturers participated in the expo that was spread over an area of 18,888 square meters. The Japanese enterprises rented not only China’s national pavilion but also corporate pavilions. German participants went to great lengths to highlight their presence at the expo, displaying products such as instruments, optics, biochemicals and, more important, fine chemicals, as well as medical care and healthcare products, which German companies including Siemens brought with them.

US President Donald Trump had said the United States would not participate in the expo, but still 180 US enterprises participated in it, the third-highest number of participants, followed by Australian companies.

And while some foreign governments adopted a harsher stance on China-related issues, they could not stop their companies from trying to capitalize on the huge Chinese market.

How could China’s first international import expo achieve such success?

The success should be attributed to the government’s capability to host big events, including its unparalleled ability to mobilize resources from various social circles and the excellent performance of its well-trained volunteers.

China’s colossal foreign reserves, and stable and gigantic consumption market will help it to import more and more products in the future.

Besides, China’s fast-growing economy offers the rest of the world a great opportunity to cash in on its market. The Shanghai import expo coincided with the US midterm elections, but many foreign newspapers gave more coverage to the Shanghai event, reflecting the great importance they attach to important fairs in China, as they are related to not only their countries’ exports to China but also to global economic prospects.

In his speech at the opening ceremony, Xi emphasized China’s efforts to create an ideal business environment. This should be good news for all foreign investors. China is expected to surpass the US to become the largest foreign direct investment destination next year, if the current momentum continues.

China is also working to build a free trade port with Chinese characteristics and more free trade zones, as well as the world’s best business environment. And no businessperson or enterprise can ignore the enormous market potential China’s encouraging moves will release.

Moreover, I believe private enterprises are enjoying a much better business environment in China than in the past, and they are free to customize or personalize products for their customers.

But how can China build a good business environment for foreign companies, too?

First, China should treat all enterprises registered and operating in its territory as equals, be they State-owned, nonpublic or foreign. Xi already stressed this point in his report to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in October 2017. So the authorities should abolish the higher access threshold for private enterprises in certain fields, and focus on not only equality of rights and rules, but also equality of opportunity.

Second, China needs to introduce more policies to help enterprises prosper, including tax cuts, as well as more practical measures to unleash the vitality of entrepreneurs, just as it did at the beginning of reform and opening-up. Xi has already met with private entrepreneurs to assure them of help, and I believe the government will issue more policies by the end of this year and early 2019 in this regard.

And third, China should work harder to attract more foreign investment and take more effective measures to reduce their costs so they can meet their needs, which will facilitate the building of a good business environment.

Corporate bigwigs such as Bill Gates, Alibaba founder Jack Ma, and Tencent Group chairman and CEO Ma Huateng will keep investing in China only if an ideal business environment is created.