On October 14, the opening ceremony of 110th China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair) and Forum on the 10th Anniversary of China’s Accession to the WTO was held in Guangzhou. Mr. Zhong Shan, Vice Minister of Commerce and Deputy China International Trade Representative attended and delivered a speech themed as “expanding openness, promoting balance and gaining mutual benefits”.

Mr. Zhong pointed out that since its accession to WTO, China has gained benefit from multilateral openness, enjoyed a just and stable external environment and achieved economic and social development in leaps and bounds. China’s development has brought benefit to both world economy and people around the world. China has provided the whole world with an emerging market with unprecedented scale and rapid development and become a new growth pole and stable factor for global economy. Mr. Zhong said that China have participated in all the work of WTO, which contributes to the development of multilateral trade system. During the 12th Five-Year Plan, China will attach importance to both export and import, to both attracting foreign investment and investing overseas, and take the increasing of openness as a new drive for transforming economic development mode.

Guests in the Forum first looked back the ten-year prosperous development course shared with trade partners since China’s accession to WTO and then looked forward the broad prospects of further improved economic and trade relations among China and other countries and regions. They all agreed that the accession to WTO accelerated China’s trade volume and made China the largest exporter and the second largest importer of the world. And China has become the major economic force and a new growth pole. China’s development is conducive to the whole world, which promote economic growth and employment opportunities in trade partners’ countries. China has become the fastest growing export market of United States. During the last ten years, US export to China was up by 468%, 55% higher than that of the same period to other countries. The relationship between China and other trade partners has great potential and broad prospects. All parties are looking forward to China’s leading role in maintaining and improving multilateral trade system and further extending import opening-up to seek common prosperity all over the world.

Mr. Yu Jianhua, Assistant Minister of Commerce presided over the forum. 900 persons including Mr. Singh, the Deputy Directors-General of WTO, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of Argentina, Swiss Secretary of State for Foreign Trade, Vice President and Chairman of Association of USA, Ambassador Yi Xiaozhun from the Permanent Mission of the PRC to the WTO, Ma Xiuhong, Chairman of China Foreign Trade Centre, responsible officials from related provinces and cities and guests from home and abroad attended the forum.

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