Shanghai, 4 November 2021 (TDI): Chinese President Xi Jinping addressed the opening ceremony of the 4th China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai. The Chinese President addressed the opening ceremony through a video link.
Xi Jinping welcomed the guests with warm greetings. He emphasized that China is a firm believer in actions rather than delivering empty speeches. Xi stated that the policies and measures which he announced in the 3rd CIIE have almost been implemented.
Flashback to 3rd CIIE
He expressed Chinese commitments to opening up, contributing to creating an open world economy, and promoting sum-sum cooperation in the world in the previous conference has been achieved. The Chinese President also committed in the 3rd CIIE to provide business opportunities to the companies of the world in China. He expressed his dedication to making the Chinese market open to the world. He stressed protecting the multilateral trading system from the threats of protectionism and unilateralism to sabotage the international trading system.
Success of 3rd CIIE
Xi in the opening ceremony highlighted the success of the 3rd CIIE. He said that the measures discussed in the 3rd CIIE have been implemented under the framework of Chinese reforms. He accentuated the list of reforms such as in the field of trade, foreign investment, and negotiations on the China-EU Comprehensive Agreement on Investment. Chinese President said that China was the only major economy to register positive growth of trade in the last year. This emphasizes the role of Chinese policies in the Covid19-prevailing world which resulted in positive growth.
Chinese President Emphasizes Multilateralism
Xi stated that the world is facing unprecedented challenges. Due to these challenges, economic globalization is facing the challenges of protectionism and unilateralism. He said that we should encourage the countries for opening up in these challenging times to defeat the rise of protectionism. Humanity can only excel under multilateralism, he added.
Chinese accession to WTO
He stated that China is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). The accession to WTO changed the fate of China. China has been committed to the principles of WTO. China has lowered its tariff rate from 15.3% to 7.4% which is lower than the 9.8% accession commitment.
Chinese success since joining WTO
Since joining WTO, China has been committed to the policy of opening up. He stressed that China has become the 2nd largest economy in the world from the 6th over the last 20 years. It has become 1st from 6th in trading. He also stated that China also played the role of a leader in helping the developing countries in the foreign investment system. The last 20 years are proof of the Chinese opening up and adopting reforms, he added.
Chinese help to the world in the pandemic
Chinese President also highlighted the role of China in countering the Coronavirus pandemic. He underlined that China has provided 350 billion masks, 4 billion protective suits, 6 billion testing kits, and over 1.6 billion doses of vaccines. China believes in multilateralism and will continue to support developing countries in the pandemic.
Expanding cooperation with international organizations
He emphasized China will strengthen its cooperation with the United Nations, the WTO, the Group of 20 (G20), the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and other regional and international institutions.
Role of BRI
The Chinese President also talked about the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in providing development opportunities to different states in the world. It will help them to enhance their economies and provide employment opportunities.
Chinese President emphasizes multilateralism
He also mentioned the way forward of China. China will protect multilateralism at any cost he added. Chinese President mentioned Chinese proverbs which state that the roads can be difficult when one talks alone but when one talks with a group of people then it becomes easier. The pandemic has made cooperation a necessity in the world. Therefore, China will continue to support and cooperate with all the countries of the world to build an open economy in the world.
World to get benefit from Chinese Market
Chinese President also said that China will also share market opportunities with other countries of the world. Being the biggest population in the world, China is the biggest market on this planet. Therefore, it will provide more opportunities to foreign investors to invest in China and to utilize the Chinese enormous market.
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