New Beginnings for a Shared Future

by Xu Feibiao

From November 5 to 10， the China International Import Expo （CIIE） was held in Shanghai， featuring more than 3，600 enterprises and institutions， over 400，000 purchasers from China and abroad and 1，500 representatives from around the world. President Xi Jinping personally raised the curtain on the event with a keynote speech titled “Work Together for an Open Global Economy That Is Innovative and Inclusive.” As an innovative and pioneering effort made by China marking a historic leap in international trade development， the launch of the CIIE provided a new ray of hope in the gloomy global environment after the rise of anti-globalization and protectionist sentiments.

A Sign of Chinas Further Opening Up to the World

The year 2018 has witnessed an upsurge in trade protectionism never seen in recent decades， especially after the U.S.， in the name of “America First，” launched a largescale trade war against China as well as against its closest allies. Hundreds of billions of dollars worth of goods from China and other countries have been stuck with heavy tariffs， followed by retaliation from the affected countries. In fact， more and more multinational corporations are worried about the policy trends of China， and the IMF recently warned that the world economy is facing downturn pressure due to the policy uncertainty from some major countries. The latest report from the WTO pointed out that the world trade index in the third quarter of 2018 was wavering at 100.3， a warning that means world trade is in the danger of decline.

Now， the first-ever importthemed state-level expo sent a strong signal that China will not close its door to the world， but will only become even more open. China attributes its economic miracle to the reform and opening up over the past 40 years. Aiming to build a stronger， higher-quality economy in the new era， China will hold steadfast to its opening-up policy， as stipulated in the Party Constitution.

Reinforcement of Chinese Solutions for Common Development

Xi said in his speech that a great vision， simple and pure， requires credible actions. China has continuously presented its solutions to achieving the UNs Sustainable Development Goals （SDGs） by 2030 while promoting world economic growth and common prosperity. And those solutions are deeply rooted in Chinas past 40 years of experience in economic development which took place in an era of reform and opening up， with focus now tightening on innovation， cooperation and sustainability. Among these factors， reform and opening up are the fundamental and endogenous driving forces of economic growth， according to the belief and ideology of the ruling party of China. However， China advocates independent development based on every countrys own situation and opposes imposing so-called“ultimate standards” or “fixed modes” on others.