THE fifth China International Import Expo (CIIE), which concluded in Shanghai on Thursday, saw US$73.5 billion worth of tentative deals reached for one-year purchases of goods and services, up 3.9% from a year ago, said Sun Chenghai, deputy director of the CIIE Bureau.

Some keywords of CIIE offer a glimpse of China’s market prospects and the enthusiasm of exhibitors to tap into the huge Chinese market.

High-level opening-up

Exhibits turning into merchandise, exhibitors turning into investors, first-timers turning into regular participants — the CIIE has seen many transformations since its inauguration in 2018, reflecting China’s steady advancement toward a higher-standard open economy.

“The CIIE is the perfect platform for collaboration. I think there are no other ones in the world that are able to bring so many industries and country representatives together and have this dialogue that allows us to look at opportunities,” said Fabrice Megarbane, L’Oreal North Asia Zone president.

Apart from promoting the free flow of goods and factors, China has stepped up its efforts in continuing institutional opening-up.

The country has kept shortening the negative list for foreign investment, passed laws and regulations, including the Foreign Investment Law, and set up some pilot free trade zones (FTZ).

In a recently released openness index, which gauged the openness levels of 129 economies from 2008 to 2020, China’s openness index jumped from 0.7107 in 2012 to 0.7507 in 2020, up 5.6%, and its ranking rose from 47th to 39th.

High-quality growth

The fifth CIIE attracted 145 countries, regions and international organizations, as well as more than 2,800 enterprises in the commercial exhibition area, and debuted 438 new products, technologies and services.

What has enticed global firms to gather at the CIIE is China’s vast opportunities brought about by its high-quality development drive.

As the first health care multinational to settle in the Lingang new area of the Shanghai pilot FTZ, Novo Nordisk on Nov. 6 announced its intent to invest 400 million yuan (US$55.63 million) in establishing a holding company in the area.

Sharing benefits

China has held several major expos this year to honor its commitments to turning the country’s vast market into enormous opportunities for the world.

Every edition of the CIIE saw more than 100 countries, regions and international organizations attending, including developed countries, developing countries and some least developed countries. The CIIE particularly invited small and medium-sized companies from dozens of the least developed countries to participate in the expo.

Afghan exhibitor Ali Azghar Faiz believed that the CIIE is a helpful platform for countries such as Afghanistan.

He said that with the help of the CIIE, he is able to not only introduce Afghan products to China, but also promote them to many other countries, and this would be a support to the Afghan people.

Dual carbon

Since China in 2020 announced the goals of striving to peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, the country has aligned its strength with pro-ecology and low-carbon efforts to fast-track the pursuit of its carbon goals.

Seeing visible ecological progress, firms in various industries, including traditional energy, construction, clothing, food, and new materials, all incorporated the low-carbon vision into their products and services showcased at the expo.

New Zealand’s dairy brand Theland, for instance, exhibited its “carbon-neutral milk,” which displayed a low-carbon whole industrial chain.

A report from the French bank Societe Generale estimated that to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, China’s green investment needs to reach 2.2 trillion yuan per year in the current decade, and the amount will grow to 3.9 trillion yuan in the period from 2031 to 2060. (Xinhua)