Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony of the first China International Import Expo and delivered a keynote speech
Xi stressed that we will work together for an open global economy that is innovative and inclusive and announced new measures to open wider
Xi announced that we will expand the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone to include a new section, launch a science and technology innovation board at the Shanghai Stock Exchange, support the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta region and make it a national strategy

The first China International Import Expo (CIIE) kicked off in Shanghai on November 5th. President Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony and delivered a keynote speech entitled Work Together for an Open Global Economy That is Innovative and Inclusive. He stressed that history tells us that openness and cooperation are a major driving force behind dynamic international economic and trade activities; the current situation calls for openness and cooperation to foster a steady global recovery; looking ahead, openness and cooperation will remain essential for continued human progress. All countries should actively champion openness and cooperation in order to secure shared development and usher in an even better tomorrow for mankind. China will not stop its effort to pursue higher-quality opening-up. China will not stop its effort to pursue an open world economy. And China will not stop its effort to pursue a community with a shared future for mankind.

In early November, autumns approaches with a light and fresh breeze in Shanghai. . At the main hall of the opening ceremony of Shanghai National Convention and Exhibition Center, guests from all over the world gathered together. At 9:45 am, Xi Jinping and foreign leaders including Czech President Milos Zeman, Dominican President Danilo Medina, El Salvador’s President Salvador Sanchez Ceren, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Van Dong, Britain’s Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, CEO of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde, President of World Bank Jim Yong Kim, and the World Trade Organization Director-General Roberto Azevedo entered the hall.

In the warm applause, Xi Jinping delivered a keynote speech. Xi pointed out that the CIIE is the world’s first import expo held at the national level, an innovation in the history of global trade. It demonstrates China’s consistent position of supporting the multilateral trading system and promoting free trade. It is a concrete action by China to advance an open world economy and support economic globalization.

Xi Jinping emphasized that the world is going through a new round of major development, transformation and adjustment. Economic globalization is an irreversible trend of history. Given the profound shifts in the international economic landscape, all countries should act with greater courage and actively champion openness and cooperation in order to secure shared development.

-- It is important for all countries to open wider and expand the space for mutually beneficial cooperation. Countries need to pursue an open policy and build an open world economy. We need to improve macroeconomic coordination to jointly promote global economic growth. We need to establish a set of global economic and trade rules that is fair, reasonable and transparent to make the global economy more open through greater exchanges and integration.

-- It is important for all countries to pursue innovative growth and speed up the transformation of growth drivers. Countries in the world should promote scientific innovation and foster new growth drivers and share the fruit of innovation. We need to seize the opportunities presented by the new round of technological and industrial revolution and work together to foster new technologies, new industries, and new forms and models of business.

-- It is important for all countries to pursue inclusive development for the benefit of all. All countries should advance opening-up, cooperation and win-win development, instead of seclusion, confrontation and monopoly. We need to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, reduce the imbalances in global development, and make economic globalization more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial for all. This way, people of all countries will be able to share in the benefits of economic globalization and global growth.

Xi Jinping pointed out that the last four decades of reform and opening-up in China has been an epic journey for the Chinese people. With determination and through self-reliance and hard work, we have forged ahead on the road to national development and progress. China has pursued development with its door open. Openness has become a trademark of China. China has grown by embracing the world, and the world has also benefited from China’s opening-up. China’s door will never be closed.

Xi Jinping emphasized that China will unswervingly follow a win-win strategy of opening-up. China will remain a strong advocate of openness at the global level, and will continue to act as a stable engine of global growth, a big market with enormous opportunities and an active supporter of global governance reform. To broaden its opening-up, China will step up efforts in the following aspects:

First, we will stimulate the potential for increased imports. We will increase people’s income and spending power, foster new growth areas of medium-high-end consumption, continue to unleash the potential of the domestic market and expand the scope for imports. We will take further steps to lower tariffs, facilitate customs clearance, reduce institutional costs in import, and step up cross-border e-commerce and other new forms and models of business. It is our sincere commitment to open the Chinese market. The CIIE, an event to be held on an annual basis, will feature good performance, good results and continued success in the years to come.

Second, we will continue to relax market access. Having further streamlined the negative list of foreign investment access, reduced investment restrictions, and improved the level of investment liberalization, China is steadily expanding the opening up of the financial industry, continuing to promote the opening up of the service industry, deepening the opening up of agriculture, mining and manufacturing, and accelerating the opening up process in the fields of telecommunications, education, medicine and culture.

Third, we will create a world-class business environment. China will speed up the introduction of foreign investment regulations to improve the open and transparent foreign-related legal system, and comprehensively implement the pre-entry national treatment plus negative list management system. We will treat all types of enterprises registered in China equally. We will protect the legitimate rights and interests of foreign-funded enterprises, and resolutely punish the violations of the legitimate rights and interests of foreign businessmen, especially the violations of intellectual property rights. We will improve the quality and efficiency of intellectual property check, and introduce a punitive compensation system.

Fourth, we will build a new opening highland. China will support the free trade pilot zones in deepening reform and innovation, and hasten to study and propose the policies and institutional system for Hainan's step-by-step and phased construction of a free trade port in order to accelerate the exploration of building a free trade port with Chinese characteristics.

Fifth, we will promote the in-depth development of multilateral and bilateral cooperation. China has always upheld the rules of the WTO, supported the necessary reforms of the WTO, and jointly defended the multilateral trading system. China is willing to promote the early conclusion of a regional comprehensive economic partnership agreement, accelerate the negotiation of the China-EU investment agreement, and accelerate the negotiation process of the China-Japan-Korea free trade zone. China will conscientiously implement the "eight major initiatives" proposed at the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in 2018, and support the greater roles of the G20, APEC, SCO, BRICS and other mechanisms. China will continue to promote the Belt and Road construction, adhere to shared growth through consultation and collaboration, and provide an international platform for open cooperation.

At present China's economic operation is generally stable and upward, Xi Jinping stressed. The fundamentals of China's healthy and stable economic development have not changed, and the essential production factors and conditions that support high-quality development have not changed, and the overall long-term stable and upward momentum is the same. China has many favorable conditions for maintaining long-term, healthy and stable economic development. We are actively taking measures to solve the problems encountered in the advancement. It’s believed that as long as we maintain strategic strength, comprehensively deepen reform and opening up, deepen supply-side structural reforms, and make every effort to resolve the existing contradictions and problems, China’s economy will certainly be able to quicken to change lane to a high-quality development track, the Chinese people will certainly be able to overcome all the difficult challenges on the road ahead, and China will surely usher in a brighter future.

Xi Jinping announced that in order to better play the important role of Shanghai and other regions in opening up, we decided to add a new area for Shanghai Free Trade Zone, set up a scientific and technological board in the Shanghai Stock Exchange and pilot the registration system, and support the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta region and raise it to national strategy.

Xi Jinping emphasized that the CIIE is not a Chinese solo, but a chorus of various countries. It’s hoped that all the guests will discuss in depth the new ideas of the reform of the global economic governance system, jointly safeguard free trade and the multilateral trading system, build an innovative and inclusive open world economy, and make unremitting efforts to build a better future for mankind.

During Xi Jinping's speech, the audience repeatedly gave warm applauses.

Some foreign leaders and heads of international organizations delivered speeches respectively at the opening ceremony. They praised China's great achievements in reform and opening up and believed that the Chinese economy will usher in a brighter future. They said that holding the CIIE showed China's sincerity for further opening up and promoting global trade, which will bring more development opportunities to the world and promote the development of bilateral relations. All parties will take the CIIE as an opportunity to expand bilateral trade with China, promote economic globalization, and work with China to build an open world economy.

Before the opening ceremony, Xi Jinping greeted the foreign leaders in the welcome hall, shaking hands with them and taking a group photo.

The opening ceremony of the Hongqiao International Economic and Trade Forum were held simultaneously.

Ding Xuexiang, Li Qiang, Yang Jiechi, Huang Kunming, Wang Yi, Zhao Kezhi, He Lifeng, and etc. attended relevant activities.

Hu Chunhua presided over the opening ceremony.

The first CIIE was held in November 5-10. Attending were more than 1,500 people including leaders of various countries and regions, heads of international organizations, representatives of various governments, and representatives of Chinese and foreign entrepreneurs.

(All information published on this website is authentic in Chinese. English is provided for reference only.)