Vision of opening-up for sharing presented at CIIE
Editor's notes:
China is committed to broader, deeper and higher-level opening-up, with the ongoing China International Import Expo a platform to show the strong determination. This year, the CIIE and the Hongqiao International Economic Forum, a significant part of the CIIE, was put under some major sessions, namely, Opening-up for Development, Opening-up for Cooperation, Opening-up for Innovation, Opening-up for Sharing, as well as Belt and Road Initiative, all of which shed light on China's route of further openness.
With promoting openness a major direction of China's economic development, "opening-up for sharing" this year has been one of the key topics discussed at the 6th China International Import Expo.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said in his letter to this year's expo that he hoped the CIIE would better serve as a window for fostering a new development pattern that creates new opportunities for the world through China's further development, and as a platform of high-standard opening-up that allows China's enormous market to be shared by the world.
He also expressed the hope that the expo would play a greater role in providing shared international public goods and services that facilitate an open world economy and let the world benefit from win-win cooperation.
Businesses from many countries and regions have taken active part in the expo, seeing it as a good platform for them to share the opportunities of the huge Chinese market.
Julian Blissett (right), executive vice president of General Motors and president of GM China, signs an agreement with Liu Fuxue, deputy director of the CIIE Bureau, to participate in the 7th CIIE.
GM Motors, an automobile giant based in the United States, for instance, has been an enthusiastic participator of the CIIE for six years and has already signed for the seventh session next year.
"GM has been rooted in China for nearly 30 years," Julian Blissett, executive vice president of General Motors and president of GM China, said at the expo. "We regard CIIE as a one-of-the kind opportunity to explore new business possibilities and potential partners for future growth in China."
"China is at the forefront of electric intelligent connected vehicle development and deployment," Blissett said. "Over the past five years, GM showcased advanced technologies and halo products at CIIE to gather customer feedback and market insights."
He specifically mentioned that in 2021, the company brought to CIIE GM's state-of-the-art Ultium platform, a dedicated EV platform that empowers GM's entire lineup of all-electric vehicles across brands and segments.
"The enthusiastic feedback we received encouraged us to accelerate the rollout of Ultium-based vehicles here in China, along with intelligent driving technologies such as the Super Cruise driver assistance system, turning them from displays into products available in the domestic market.
"We are grateful for the compelling opportunities brought by CIIE. They have allowed us to further grow our business in China and continue bringing in the best technologies, products and services to satisfy the Chinese consumers," Blissett said.
GM booth at the 6th CIIE
HSBC Group also sees CIIE as an important event for promoting international trade and investment cooperation, and the financial institution is trying to support European companies in capturing opportunities in China.
"The CIIE is a global platform for connecting businesses from around the world with the massive Chinese consumer market," said Colin Bell, CEO of HSBC Bank plc and HSBC Europe. "As a leading financial institution sitting at the heart of the Europe-China relationship, we have an opportunity to demonstrate our unmatched ability to facilitate trade and investment across these regions."
He expressed particular interest in the opportunity to learn about the technology, innovations, and industries of the future, as well as the chance to network with other business leaders and discuss the opportunities they see for the future of Europe-China trade and investments.
Bell also shared some positive data and insights on the growing investment in China by European businesses.
"As China has reopened, we have seen the re-emergence of visits between China and Europe," he said. "International events such as the CIIE, are important after Covid to reconnect the East and West."
Investment in China has continued to grow, with European countries making up 35 percent of the top 20 import markets in China, Bell said.
"There is opportunity and there is appetite for strengthening the China – Europe corridor."
As a notable trend, "we have seen that green finance continues to remain high on the agenda of European companies investing in China," he said.
HSBC booth at the 6th CIIE
HSBC had noticed that consumer behaviour in both regions had changed significantly in recent years.
"We recently surveyed more than 3,000 companies across 16 markets," Bell said. "It showed that despite short term challenges, the Chinese market remains attractive to European businesses as they continue pursuing expansion by leveraging opportunities in the digital economy and green industry."
DBS Group, the biggest commercial bank in Singapore, also spoke highly of CIIE especially in terms of its focus on opening up for sharing.
"It (the CIIE) opens up Shanghai and China to the world and to companies from around the world," the group's global CEO Piyush Gupta said. "That includes obviously many of our clients, both from Singapore and from other countries in which we operate."
The group's presence in CIIE is to showcase to these international clients its capabilities in China, according to Gupta, which had been achieved in the last few sessions.
"That's obviously good for us because it allows us to intermediate and win new business. But it is also good for us because it allows us to show our support to Singapore. And for Singapore, obviously, the China connectivity is a very important one and a big opportunity.
"This ability to do two-way sharing, to be able to bring external companies into Shanghai, to be able to showcase our capabilities, and then of course we continue to do that with our local Chinese customers as well, has been extremely beneficial to us," Gupta said.
DBS booth at the 6th CIIE
