China's largest import expo opens in Shanghai amid record trade imbalances

The China International Import Expo (CIIE), China's largest import expo and a signature initiative of President Xi Jinping, opened its ninth edition in Shanghai on Thursday morning.

Launched by Xi in 2018 to showcase China's commitment to opening its market, the expo has become a key venue for foreign governments and companies to signal their commitment to China, launch products, and sign purchase agreements and memoranda of understanding with Chinese partners. Organisers said tentative deals worth more than $80 billion were struck at last year's event.

• This year's event, which runs through November 10, will see participation from 162 countries, regions and international organisations, alongside 4,142 companies from around the world.

• “Everyone is concerned about trade market issues, the key is how to realise trade balance,” Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang said at the expo’s opening ceremony, adding that CIIE is both “a proactive measure to expand imports, (and) a concrete action to advocate for the construction of an open world economy.”

• CIIE was launched to promote China's free trade credentials and counter criticism of its trade surplus with many countries. In the years since, China's trade imbalances with many countries, including major trading partners the European Union and the United States, have only widened.

• This year, China is on track to top last year's $1.2 trillion trade surplus despite rising global tensions. While exports rose 6.7% in the first 10 months of the year, imports increased only 3.7%, reflecting weak domestic demand and highlighting the imbalance between China's production strength and softer consumption at home.

Reuters

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