The World Openness Index, gauging the openness of 129 economies, mirrors reality. The CIIE, for one, bears testament to China's growing international engagement. Launched in 2018 as the world's first national-level expo dedicated to imports, it aims to share the Chinese market's huge potential. This year's edition saw the participation of about 3,500 exhibitors from 129 countries and regions, including a record-high 297 Fortune 500 companies and industry leaders.
While attracting business heavyweights, the CIIE takes an inclusive approach. This year, organizers offered more than 120 free booths for vendors from 37 least developed countries (LDCs), as part of China's efforts to support their development. The country has also recently announced a policy of giving all LDCs that have diplomatic relations with China zero-tariff treatment on all tariff lines starting December 1.
The latest official data showed China's foreign trade surged in the first three quarters of 2024, surpassing 32 trillion yuan ($4.4 trillion), with imports rising 4.1 percent year on year to 13.71 trillion yuan ($1.9 trillion). The new edition of China's national negative list for foreign investment, which took effect on November 1, scrapped the remaining two restrictions related to the manufacturing sector, fully opening up this industry to overseas investors.
China's growing openness is also evidenced by the fact that the country is increasingly facilitating visits by international tourists and businesspeople. On November 8, it launched a pilot visa-free policy for ordinary passport holders from Slovakia, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Andorra, Monaco, Liechtenstein and the Republic of Korea. They are the latest additions to a list of countries for which China has granted visa waivers. China welcomed 8.186 million international arrivals in the third quarter of this year, with 4.885 million of these coming in visa free, registering year-on-year upsurges of 48.8 percent and 78.6 percent, respectively.
With a middle-income group currently comprising 400 million people and projected to reach 800 million by 2035, China represents a market that cannot be underestimated. As the country advances its high-standard opening-up program, mutually beneficial outcomes are expected to be strengthened, even as protectionism appears to be on the rise in many of the world's quarters.
