Keynote Speech at the Opening Ceremony of the Third China International Import Expo

(Beijing, 4 November 2020)

the People's Republic of China President Xi Jinping

On the evening of November 4, the opening ceremony of the third China International Import Expo was held in Shanghai. President Xi Jinping delivered a keynote speech by video. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ju Peng

Distinguished Heads of State and Government,

Distinguished Heads of International Organizations,

Distinguished Heads of Delegations,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends:

With the joint efforts of all parties, the third China International Import Expo has opened! First of all, on behalf of the Chinese government and the Chinese people, and in my own name, I would like to extend a warm welcome to all the distinguished guests! Sincere greetings to all new and old friends!

The fair was held at a special time. The sudden outbreak of neo-coronary pneumonia has had a severe impact on countries and has hit the world economy hard. China's hosting of this global trade event as scheduled on the premise of ensuring the safety of epidemic prevention reflects China's sincere desire to share market opportunities with the world and promote the recovery of the world economy.

After three years of development, the Expo has turned exhibits into commodities, exhibitors into investors, exchanged ideas and ideas, connected China and the world, and become four major platforms for international procurement, investment promotion, people-to-people exchanges and open cooperation. it has become an international public product shared by the world.

Enterprises from all over the world participated in the Expo, and the exhibition area was expanded by nearly 30000 square meters. In the newly established public health and epidemic prevention zone alone, there are many Fortune 500 companies and industry leaders participating. This time, we have adopted a combination of online and offline methods, and careful arrangements have been made in all aspects. I believe it will be a safe, exciting and fruitful expo.

Ladies and gentlemen, friends!

Despite the impact of the epidemic, China's pace of opening up has accelerated this year. The series of measures to expand opening up announced by me at the second China International Import Expo have been fully implemented. China continues to expand imports, and the growth rate of China's imports of goods and services in the past year is significantly higher than the global average. The national negative list of foreign investment access has been reduced from 40 to 33, the number of pilot free trade zones has been increased from 18 to 21, the overall plan for the construction of Hainan free trade port and the implementation plan for Shenzhen to further expand reform and opening up have been issued and implemented, positive progress has been made in signing high-standard free trade agreements, cultivating import trade to promote innovation demonstration zones, protecting intellectual property rights, and building "Belt and Road Initiative" with high quality.

Ladies and gentlemen, friends!

The neo-coronary pneumonia epidemic has increased the instability and uncertainty of the world economy. Historically, no matter what risks, disasters and countercurrents are encountered, human society has always moved forward and will certainly be able to move forward.

The general trend towards openness and cooperation among countries has not changed. We must join hands to jointly respond to risks and challenges, jointly strengthen cooperation and communication, and jointly expand opening up.

-- We must be committed to promoting win-win cooperation and common openness. This epidemic reminds us that all countries are a community of shared destiny, that no one can stand alone in the face of major crises, and that solidarity and cooperation are the inevitable choice to meet challenges. We must adhere to the concept of win-win cooperation, trust rather than suspicion, join hands rather than punch, negotiate rather than abuse, put the common interests of all countries first, and promote economic globalization towards a more open, inclusive, inclusive, balanced, and win-win situation. Direction development.

-- We should be committed to promoting cooperation and common openness. History and practice have proved that in the face of risks and challenges, all countries should work together in the same boat and fulfill their responsibilities, instead of being self-respecting and harming others at the expense of themselves. Major countries should take the lead in setting an example, major economies should set an example, and developing countries should actively act to promote the common development of the world through common openness and shared responsibilities.

-- We must be committed to promoting cooperation and common openness. In the face of the challenges brought about by economic globalization, unilateralism and protectionism should not be allowed to undermine the international order and international rules, but the global economic governance system should be reformed in a constructive manner to better seek advantages and avoid disadvantages. We must adhere to the global governance concept of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, maintain the multilateral trading system based on the World Trade Organization, improve global economic governance rules, and promote the construction of an open world economy.

Ladies and gentlemen, friends!

The just-concluded Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee made a comprehensive plan for China's development during the 14th Five-Year Plan period. China's goal of building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way and fighting a decisive battle against poverty is about to be achieved. Starting next year, China will embark on a new journey of building a modern socialist country in an all-round way, and China will enter a new stage of development. To adapt to the new situation and new requirements, we propose to build a new development pattern with the domestic cycle as the main body and the domestic and international double cycle promoting each other. This is by no means a closed domestic cycle, but a more open domestic and international double cycle, which is not only the need of China's own development, but also will better benefit the people of all countries.

China has a population of 1.4 billion and a middle-income group of more than 0.4 billion, making it the most potential market in the world. It is estimated that the cumulative import volume of goods in the next 10 years is expected to exceed 22 trillion US dollars. Made in China has become an important part of the global industrial chain supply chain and has made positive contributions. China's vast domestic demand market will continue to stimulate a steady stream of innovation potential.

Ladies and gentlemen, friends!

The new crown epidemic is a big test for all countries. Through painstaking efforts, the Chinese people have achieved significant strategic results in the prevention and control of the epidemic. China's economy has shown a steady and positive trend. In the first three quarters, China achieved positive growth, of which the volume of foreign trade increased by 0.7, and the actual use of foreign capital increased by 5.2, which played a positive role in promoting the recovery of the world economy. In order to support countries in their fight against the epidemic, the Chinese people have shared their experience with all parties without reservation and provided assistance to the international community to the best of their ability. As of 20 October, they had provided anti-epidemic assistance to 150 countries and 7 international organizations, exporting more than 179 billion masks, 1.73 billion protective clothing and 0.543 billion testing kits, demonstrating China's commitment.

In the next step, China will uphold the belief of openness, cooperation, unity, and win-win results, unswervingly expand its opening up in an all-round way, and more efficiently realize the connection of internal and external markets and the sharing of factor resources, and make the Chinese market the world's market, a shared market, Everyone's market injects more positive energy into the international community.

First, open up new heights. Over the past seven years, China's pilot free trade zones have been forging ahead, exploring boldly and achieving remarkable results. The construction of Hainan free trade port started smoothly. China will effectively play the leading role of free trade pilot zones and free trade ports, issue a negative list of cross-border trade in services, continue to expand opening up in the digital economy, the Internet and other fields, carry out in-depth reform and innovation of trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and promote the construction of a new open economic system at a higher level.

Second, promote the innovative development of foreign trade. China will continue to support enterprises from all over the world to expand business opportunities in China through open platforms such as the CIIE. China will tap the potential of foreign trade growth and make positive contributions to promoting the growth of international trade and the development of the world economy. China will accelerate the development of new business models such as cross-border e-commerce and cultivate new momentum in foreign trade. China will compress the "Catalogue of China's Prohibited and Restricted Import Technologies" to create a good environment for the free flow of technology elements across borders.

Third, continue to optimize the business environment. China's post-epidemic relief policies treat enterprises registered in China equally. This year, China implemented the Foreign Investment Law and related supporting regulations, further reducing the negative list of foreign investment access. China will continue to improve an open and transparent foreign-related legal system, strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights, safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of foreign-funded enterprises, and create a better environment with high-quality services.

Fourth, deepen bilateral, multilateral and regional cooperation. China is willing to negotiate and sign high-standard free trade agreements with more countries, promote the signing of regional comprehensive economic partnership agreements as soon as possible, accelerate the negotiation process of China-EU investment agreements, China-Japan-Korea free trade agreements, and strengthen exchanges and mutual learning with the world's high-standard free trade zones. China will actively participate in the reform of the World Trade Organization and actively participate in the cooperation of the United Nations, the G20, APEC, BRICS and other mechanisms. China will jointly build "the belt and road initiative" with relevant countries with high quality and promote the construction of a community of human destiny.

Ladies and gentlemen, friends!

Chinese people often say, "less than the Great Wall is not a hero". At present, the development of the world economy is facing severe challenges. We must strengthen our confidence, strengthen our courage, and overcome the difficulties together. China is willing to work with other countries to create opportunities in opening up, solve problems in cooperation, and work together to create a better tomorrow for mankind!

Thank you all.