Togetherness Leads to Prosperity

On November 5， 2018， the first China International Import Expo （CIIE） opened in Shanghai. At the opening ceremony， Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a keynote speech titled “Work Together for an Open Global Economy That Is Innovative and Inclusive，” manifesting China’s determination and action to open wider and pursue common development in the world.

Firstly， Xi’s speech evidenced China’s determination to further open and shined light on its future action plan.

Forty years ago， China launched its reform and opening-up policy. Thanks to persistent exploration and experimentation， China has achieved great progress in various fields. But amidst profound changes in domestic and international situations， China’s reform and opening up is also undergoing a new round of challenges and opportunities. Against this backdrop， Xi’s speech emphasized that China would stimulate the potential for increased imports， broaden market access， foster a world-class business environment， explore new horizons of opening up and facilitate multilateral cooperation， showcasing China’s determination to open wider to the world and shining light on its future plans.

Secondly， Xi’s speech exhibited China’s willingness and efforts to promote shared and inclusive development.

Because of economic globalization， different countries across the world band together to improve their living standards in different sectors to varying degrees. But today， the global economy is undergoing major adjustments characterized by rising protectionism and unilateralism. Economic globalization featuring multilateralism and free trade has met serious setbacks： A handful of countries over-emphasize and fixate on relatively minor losses while refusing to recognize net gains. These countries have taken unilateral action to pursue excessively narrow national interests， causing a negative impact on economic globalization and serious damage to the economic and institutional foundation for international trade cooperation. In this gloomy context， by hosting the import expo， China hopes to showcase its strong will to safeguard the overall interests of various countries and promote shared and inclusive development.

Thirdly， Xi’s speech outlined China’s aspirations and related measures for peaceful coexistence.

After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949， conforming to common aspiration of the international community， the country proposed the principles of peaceful coexistence in international relations. For a long time， by upholding the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence， China has greatly enhanced its relations with other countries and made great contributions to regional and world peace. Although China’s national strength is much stronger than before， safeguarding peace and driving development are still the fundamental principles of the country in terms of international affairs. Facing the increasing unprovoked doubts and negative editorials， China chose to organize the CIIE to make clear that China favors cooperation over confrontation and peace over conflict in terms of relationships with other countries.

Finally， Xi’s speech showed that China will further advance the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative.

In May 2017 when the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation was held in Beijing， Xi announced that China would hold the CIIE to inject new impetus into the development of the Belt and Road Initiative and create a new platform for world development. A year and a half later， the first CIIE arrived on schedule and immediately began providing a practical platform for participating countries to learn about and access the Chinese market to realize common prosperity. The CIIE is a major measure taken by China to advance the Belt and Road Initiative—it blazes a path to prosperity characterized by extensive consultation， joint contribution and shared benefits.

In the nutshell， the CIIE is a major step China has taken to shoulder global responsibility and promote the building of a community with a shared future for humanity. Xi’s speech demonstrated to the world that China’s fundamental pursuits remain peace and development. Facing new tendencies and challenges in the global economic situation， China hopes to cooperate with countries around the world to lay a foundation for open and inclusive global economic governance.