Editor's note: The following article is taken from the Chinese-language "Commentaries on International Affairs". The article does not necessarily reflect the views of CGTN.

The 2nd China International Import Expo (CIIE) wrapped up in Shanghai with over 70 billion U.S. dollars' worth of tentative deals reached for one-year purchases of goods and services. That's nearly one quarter more than the amount recorded last year.

As the world's first national level exposition focused on imports, the CIIE is a major measure of the steps China's taken to further open up its market. This year, more than 3,800 enterprises from 181 countries, regions and international organizations attended the six-day event, bringing greater diversity, professionalism and high-tech connotations. 

Government officials, including Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Jurin Laksanawisit and Australian Minister of Trade, Tourism and Investment Simon Birmingham, acted as "salespeople" for products from their own countries, helping with sales promotion while attending the expo. As Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Kostas Fragogiannis pointed out, China's import expo has brought enormous business opportunities to his country and to the rest of the world amid all kinds of uncertainties in the world economy.

The annual event also hosted an international economic forum for over 4,000 government officials, business people and scholars, discussing issues such as business environment, artificial intelligence, reforms of the WTO, e-commerce and building a shared future for humanity. Participants reached consensus on supporting economic globalization and the multilateral trading system, making the expo an important platform for counter protectionism.

More importantly, the expo has demonstrated the idea of shared development. As with last year, the organizers provided exhibitors from the least developing countries with two standard exhibition booths for free, and hosted several supply-demand matchmaking meetings. Arancha Gonzalez, the executive director of the International Trade Center - a joint agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization - noted that the import expo provides small-and-medium sized enterprises from the developing countries with convenient access to China's vast market.

The import expo has showcased to the world not only China's great market potential but also the country's determination and action to further open up and support globalization and free trade. As Beijing is committed to promoting global partnership by various creative means, the whole world is expected to benefit more by enjoying shared development.

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