Policies on expanding opening-up help bring imports to Chinese consumers faster
By Wang Junling,
Liu Zibing
The upcoming
2nd
China International Import Expo 2019 (CIIE) is expected to further integrate
imported goods into the lives of Chinese consumers and help foreign enterprises
and businessmen profit more from the transformation and upgrading of Chinese
market.
With the
continuously expanding influence of the first CIIE, more and more imported
goods have entered the daily life of Chinese citizens through such channels as
foreign-funded chain convenience stores like 7-Eleven and Lawson, large-scale
traditional hypermarkets, theme shopping malls, boutiques, and online shopping
platforms.
The prevalence
of imported goods in China reflects huge opportunities created by China’s
continued efforts to expand opening-up.
According to
statistics from the General Administration of Customs of China, in the recent
10 years, China’s value of trade in imported food has been growing by an annual
average of 17.4 percent, and its annual value of trade in food imports exceeded
$70 billion in 2018 for the first time.
So far, 2,283
kinds of imported food from 176 countries and regions have been listed in its
admittance management, 18,295 foreign companies have been granted approval to
sell food to China, and 33,059 import and export agents have been approved for
registration
Experts pointed
out that China’s initiative of expanding imports is not only a foreign trade
policy, but one of the country’s important measures to expand opening-up, which
is significant to both Chinese economy and global economic development.
China has
lowered its overall tariff level to 7.5 percent, much lower than that of most
developing countries and close to the level of developed countries and markets,
said Qian Keming, vice minister of Ministry of Commerce, when elaborating on
China’s achievements in opening-up a few days ago.
In the future,
China will continue focusing on negative list on the market access of foreign
investment while promoting investment liberalization and accelerating the
comprehensive implementation of opening-up measures including the 2019 version
of negative list on the market access of foreign investment in general and that
for pilot free trade zones.
China’s
constantly intensified efforts at rolling out various policies on opening-up
are helping bring imports to the everyday life of Chinese consumers faster.
The State
Council's executive meeting at the end of July identified a number of measures
in stimulating consumption and boosting industrial upgrading, including
adjusting and expanding the list of retail import goods in cross-border
e-commerce, allowing processing and manufacturing companies in comprehensive
bonded zones to take commissioned domestic processing businesses from outside
the zones, attracting world renowned brands to launch their new products in
China.
China released
the 2019 version of negative list on the market access of foreign investment in
general and that for pilot free trade zones, published the catalogue of
encouraged foreign investment industries, newly established 6 pilot free trade
zones, and is going to implement a new foreign investment law from January 1,
2020, according to a report by Spanish news agency Agencia EFE.
China is opening
more and more areas to the rest of the world and constantly improving its
investment environment, which will generate more opportunities for the
development of other countries in the world, said the report.
China’ opening
its door to the world brings precious gifts to the world, said South African
Minister of Small Business Development Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, noting that South
Africa is very looking forward to the second CIIE.
The CIIE has
built an important platform for economic and trade cooperation among various
countries in the world, said Ntshavheni, adding that it is evident that the
CIIE has played a significant role in promoting international free trade and
investment cooperation.
Last year, the
value of trade between China and South Africa amounted to a record high of
$43.5 billion, disclosed Ntshavheni, saying that the country hopes to further
improve the popularity of South African goods and enterprises in China through
the second CIIE.
“During the 1st
CIIE, JD.com signed contracts for the purchase of nearly 100 billion yuan
(about $14.17 billion) worth of imports. The 2nd CIIE will house more new
products and new technologies with higher quality than last year, which means
more outstanding enterprises and products will join the event,” said Yu
Ronghua, an executive of JD Worldwide, a cross-border e-commerce
platform of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com.
JD Worldwide
will make full use of the platform offered by the CIIE and strive to build good
cooperative relations with other outstanding enterprises and brands, said Yu,
stressing that JD Worldwide will make sustained efforts to improve the shopping
experiences of consumers.
(Source: People’s
Daily)
Aerial photo
taken on Jun. 8, 2019 shows the new Lingang area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot
Free Trade Zone. (Photo/Hai Xin)
Policies on expanding opening-up help bring imports to Chinese consumers faster
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