China will encourage all countries and parties to share opportunities for deepening international cooperation, President Xi Jinping said on Friday during a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the 5th China International Import Expo.

Speaking via video, Xi pledged to comprehensively strengthen China's participation in World Trade Organization reform negotiations, promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and enhance international macro-economic policy coordination, with a view to jointly foster new drivers for global growth.

China will endeavor actively to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA), Xi said.

In September 2021, China submitted a formal application to join the CPTPP, a new version of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) from which the U.S. withdrew in 2017. The Ministry of Commerce said last week that China is engaging, communicating and negotiating with CPTPP members in accordance with the pact's accession procedure.

In November 2021, China filed an official application to join the DEPA, a pact signed by Singapore, New Zealand and Chile in 2020 to establish collaboration on digital trade issues. In August 2022, China established a working group to advance negotiations on joining the agreement.

Xi added that China will expand the globally-oriented network of high-standard free trade zones, help developing countries accelerate development and step up the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

(Cover: A view of the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai, China, November 4, 2022. /CFP)