China will encourage all countries and parties to share opportunities in its vast market, President Xi Jinping said on Friday.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 5th China International Import Expo (CIIE) via video, Xi said China will accelerate the development of a robust domestic market, promote the upgrading of trade in goods, innovate mechanisms for developing trade in services and expand imports of quality products.

"We will amplify the interplay between domestic and international markets and resources, strive to create new opportunities for the world with our own development, and contribute our share to building an open global economy," Xi said. 

Silk Road e-commerce cooperation

China will establish pilot zones for Silk Road e-commerce cooperation and build national demonstration zones for innovative development of trade in services, so as to encourage innovation in trade and promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, Xi said.

At the 4th CIIE last year, Xi announced that China will carry out Silk Road e-commerce cooperation as part of the country's efforts to promote the integration of domestic and foreign trade, and accelerate the building of designated cities into international consumption centers.

According to the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), some 26 countries from five continents have established e-commerce cooperation with China since 2016, including Pakistan, Italy, Australia, Iceland, Russia and United Arab Emirates.

National demo zones for trade in services

In August, MOFCOM said China is stepping up the design of a construction plan for national demonstration zones for innovative development of trade in services, which Xi announced at the 2021 China International Fair for Trade in Services. The fair currently figures as the only comprehensive trading platform in the world. 

In 2020, China started a three-year pilot program to promote innovative development of trade in services in 28 pilot areas, including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Hainan Province.

The country decided to upgrade some select pilot areas into demonstration zones last year. More than 90 percent of the 122 specific measures proposed in the pilot program have been implemented, according to MOFCOM.

In the first nine months of this year, China's services trade value grew 18.2 percent year-on-year, topping 4.47 trillion yuan (about $617 billion), MOFCOM data showed.