Let China’s Openness Benefit the World

Let China’s Openness Benefit the World*

November 4, 2021

Your Excellencies Heads of State and Government,
Your Excellencies Heads of International Organizations,
Your Excellencies Heads of Delegations,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Friends,

Good evening.

As the Fourth China International Import Expo (CIIE) opens today, it gives me great pleasure to join you online in this virtual meeting. At the outset, on behalf of the Chinese government and people and also in my own name, I would like to extend a warm welcome to our distinguished guests, and cordial greetings and best wishes to our friends old and new.

China always honors its words with actions. The measures for further opening up I announced at the Third CIIE have largely been implemented. The negative list for cross-border trade in services at the Hainan Free Trade Port has been released, steady progress is being made in reform and innovation in pilot free trade zones, foreign investment access continues to expand, the business environment continues to improve, negotiations on the China-EU Comprehensive Agreement on Investment have been concluded, and China is among the first to have completed domestic ratification of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. China has overcome the impact of Covid-19 to achieve exceptional growth in foreign trade. As the only major economy to register positive growth of trade in goods last year, China has made an important contribution to keeping global industrial and supply chains stable and boosting world economic recovery.

Ladies and gentlemen,
Friends,

As we speak, the world is experiencing the combined impact of major changes and a pandemic, both on a scale unseen in a century. Unilateralism and protectionism are on the rise, and economic globalization is facing headwinds. Studies show a steady decline of the World Openness Index over the past decade and a weakening of global support for opening up, which are causes for great concern. For a boat to sail upstream, it must forge ahead; otherwise the current will drive it backward. We must have an accurate perspective of the trends in economic globalization, and support countries around the world in opening up wider while rejecting unilateralism and protectionism. This is vital if we are to take humanity to a better future.

Opening up is the hallmark of contemporary China. This year marks the 20th anniversary of China’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Over the last two decades, China has fully delivered on its accession commitments. Its overall tariff rate has been cut from 15.3 percent to 7.4 percent, lower than the 9.8 percent accession commitment. The central government has reviewed and revised over 2,300 laws and regulations, and local governments over 190,000 items, which has helped to unleash market and social vitality.

Since the start of Covid-19, China has provided to the international community some 350 billion masks, over 4 billion protective suits, over 6 billion testing kits, and over 1.6 billion doses of vaccine. China has actively promoted international cooperation against the pandemic, and supported waiving intellectual property rights on vaccines for developing countries. These are the concrete actions China has taken to honor our commitments and fulfill our responsibilities.

Over the past 20 years, China’s economy has grown from the 6th to the 2nd largest in the world, trade in goods from 6th to 1st, and trade in services from 11th to 2nd. China has led developing countries in the use of foreign investment, and its outbound direct investment has risen from 26th to 1st. The past 20 years have seen a China that is expanding reform and pursuing all-round opening up, a China that is seizing opportunities and rising to challenges, and a China that is stepping up to its responsibilities and benefiting the whole world.

Since joining the WTO, China has continued to open wider to the world, thus generating a new wave of domestic development while injecting fresh impetus into the global economy.

China’s development and progress since its WTO accession 20 years ago is the result of much hard work and great tenacity on the part of the Chinese people under the robust leadership of the CPC. It is also the result of China’s proactive steps to strengthen international cooperation and pursue win-win cooperation.

On this occasion, I wish to express my heartfelt thanks to all Chinese and foreign friends from different social sectors for taking part in and witnessing this historic process and for supporting China’s opening up and development.

Ladies and gentlemen,
Friends,

An ancient Chinese once observed: “One can tell the inside of a thing by observing its outside and see future developments by reviewing the past.” For any country or nation to thrive, it must follow the logic of history and develop in line with the trend of the times. We in China will not lose our resolve to open wider at a high standard; we will not lose our determination to share development opportunities with the rest of the world; we will not lose our commitment to economic globalization that is more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial to all.

First, China will safeguard true multilateralism.

The multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core is the cornerstone of international trade. Right now, the multilateral trading system is under threat. China supports WTO reform in the right direction. We support the inclusive development of the multilateral trading system, as well as the legitimate rights and interests of the developing members. China will take an active and open attitude in negotiations on issues such as the digital economy, trade and the environment, industrial subsidies, and state-owned enterprises, and we will uphold the position of the multilateral trading system as the main channel for international rule-setting and safeguard the stability of global industrial and supply chains.

Second, China will share market opportunities with the rest of the world.

China has a population of over 1.4 billion and a middle-income group of more than 400 million people. Our annual imports of goods and services are valued at around US$2.5 trillion. All this offers an enormous market. Going forward, China will lay more emphasis on expanding imports, and pursue balanced development of trade.

China will open more demonstration zones for promotion of imports and innovation in trade, optimize the catalogue of retail imports via cross-border e-commerce, encourage the on-site processing of imported goods from trading between border residents, and increase imports from neighboring countries. China will better integrate its domestic and foreign trade, develop some of its major cities into international consumption hubs, promote Silk Road e-commerce, establish modern logistics systems, and build additional capacity in cross-border logistics.

Third, China will promote high-standard opening up.

It will further reduce the negative list for foreign investment, and expand the opening of telecommunications, health care and other services in an orderly fashion. We will revise and enlarge the encouraged industry catalogue to guide more foreign investment towards sectors such as advanced manufacturing, modern services, high and new technology, energy conservation, and environmental protection, and towards the central, western and northeastern regions.

China will conduct stress tests for high-standard opening up in pilot free trade zones and the Hainan Free Trade Port, and will release a negative list for cross-border trade in services in the pilot free trade zones. China will engage in extensive international cooperation on green and low-carbon development and the digital economy, and work continuously for its accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement.

Fourth, China will uphold the common interests of the world.

It will take an active part in cooperation within the United Nations, the WTO, the G20, APEC, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and other institutions, and encourage wider discussions on such issues as trade and investment, the digital economy, and green and low-carbon development. China will support fair global distribution of vaccines and other key medical supplies, and unimpeded trade in these public goods.

China will promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation to provide development opportunities and deliver real benefits to more countries and people. China will actively join in global efforts to tackle climate change and safeguard food and energy security, and provide more assistance to fellow developing countries within the framework of South-South cooperation.

Ladies and gentlemen,
Friends,

As a Qing-dynasty scholar said, “The going may be tough when one walks alone, but it gets easier when people walk together.” As the pandemic continues to wreak havoc and the global economy faces a rocky recovery, it is all the more important that the world joins together to pull us through this difficult time. China stands ready to work with all countries to build an open world economy, so that the spring breeze of openness will bring warmth to all parts of the world.

Thank you.

* Keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Fourth China International Import Expo.

(Not to be republished for any commercial or other purposes.)