Chinese President Xi Jinping will deliver a keynote speech via video link at the opening ceremony of the third China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai on Wednesday. This would be the third year in a row that the Chinese president addresses the event, which has become a key platform for furthering globalization and multilateralism. 

At the second edition of the expo in 2019, President Xi, along with French President Emmanuel Macron, savored French wine and beef. French entrepreneurs said they were bullish about the Chinese market and hoped to further expand exports in China.

Amid the pandemic-induced slumber of the global trade, the surging sales of French beef have eked out growth in Sino-European trade. 

According to Eurostat, in the first seven months of 2020, the total import and export volume between China and the 27 EU member-states logged a 2.6-percent year-on-year hike. In a first, China surpassed the U.S. to become the EU's largest trade partner.

Kenya is the world's biggest flower exporter. At the debut of the CIIE in 2018, the colorful Kenyan flowers grabbed the spotlight. 

President Xi toured the Kenyan wing of the expo along with his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta.

"The CIIE is a very ideal platform for exchanges and cooperation," said Clement Tulezi, chief executive of the Kenya Flower Council, adding "At present, our annual export of flowers to China has reached 4,000 tonnes."

At the previous two installments of the CIIE, President Xi announced a slew of pragmatic measures for China to further propel its opening-up course. CGTN evaluates the achievements of the past two years.

Foreign trade

"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," President Xi vowed at the launch of the CIIE in Shanghai in 2018.

In recent years, China has repeatedly slashed import tariffs to stimulate import potential and optimize the structure of imports. Starting from January 1, 2020, China has levied provisional import tariff rates lower than the most-favored-nation tariff rates on more than 850 commodities. 

In terms of optimizing the business environment at ports, 86 types of regulatory documents that were previously required to be checked were reduced to 44. 

This September, the overall customs clearance time across the country was reduced by 64.04 percent for imports and 84.87 percent for exports compared with 2017. The cost of customs clearance has significantly reduced.

Further opening-up

At the first CIIE, President Xi expounded the country's measures for further opening-up spanning all areas.

"We are steadily increasing the openness of the financial sector, continuing to open up the services sector, and working towards greater openness in the agricultural, mining and manufacturing sectors," Xi said.

"We are accelerating opening in areas such as telecommunications, education, medical service and culture. In particular, the foreign equity caps are going to be raised in the education and medical services sectors, where there is both huge interest among foreign investors and shortage in domestic supply," he added.

In the years leading up to 2020, China's financial industry has taken milestone steps towards greater openness, with the announcement of 50 opening-up measures such as scraping foreign ownership caps on various financial institutions including banks, securities, funds, futures and insurance.  

A revised catalog of industries that encourages foreign investment was released in 2019. The 2019 version widens the scope of foreign investment opportunities in high-end, smart and green manufacturing. Before the end of 2020, a new version of the catalog will be issued to further expand the areas concerning foreign investment.

Intellectual property rights

"We protect the lawful rights and interests of foreign companies, and are resolute in meting out, in a law-binding manner, punishment for violations of the lawful rights and interests of foreign investors, particularly IPR infringements," Xi assured in 2018, adding "We will enhance the credibility and efficiency of IP examination, and put in place a punitive compensation system to significantly raise the cost for offenders." 

On January 1, 2019, China's Supreme People's Court instituted a special court to hear intellectual property rights appeals that require more expertise.

On October 17, 2020, Chinese lawmakers completed the revision of the Patent Law, China's fourth amendment to the Patent Law. A series of amendments and improvements have been made to buttress the protection of the legitimate rights and interests of the patentees, promoting the implementation and application of patents, and improving the patent authorization system.

Business environment

At the second CIIE, President Xi pledged China will continue to foster an enabling business environment that is based on market principles, governed by law, and up to international standards.

"We will give foreign investments greater market access to more sectors, shorten the negative list further, and improve institutions for investment promotion and protection for information reporting," Xi said. 

On January 1, 2020, China's Foreign Investment Law and the regulation on optimizing the business environment were officially implemented to unleash the productive forces and promote high-quality development.

The number of sectors that are off-limits for foreign investors has been cut down to 33 in the 2020 version of the negative list from 40 in the 2019 version. China has also unveiled its 2020 negative list for foreign investment in pilot free trade zones, shrinking the number of prohibited industries to 30 from 37.

Belt and Road

"China will follow the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits, the philosophy of open, green, and clean cooperation, and a high-standard, people-centered, and sustainable approach to promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation," said Xi at the second CIIE.

China has signed 200 cooperation documents with 138 countries and 30 international organizations to jointly build the Belt and Road, and jointly carried out more than 2,000 cooperation projects; the cumulative total of trade in goods between China and countries along the route exceeded $7.8 trillion, and direct investment exceeds $110 billion.

(Cover via CFP)