Expo sends message of China growth the world wants to hear
- Beijing leaders assure nations, regions and groups attending Shanghai showcase that country’s middle-class consumer colossus can drive global recovery
The first China International Import Expo since the Covid-19 pandemic highlights the need to boost stalled global economic recovery and the business community’s confidence in the potential of China to provide valuable momentum. This has been reflected in visitors from 154 countries, regions and international organisations and more than 3,400 exhibitors. They include for the first time an official US pavilion opened by its Department of Agriculture, eyeing China’s interest in farm technology and food self-sufficiency.
If further evidence is required it is to be found in the opening remarks of Premier Li Qiang to more than 1,000 government officials and business leaders. Li put his finger on the nation’s untapped potential to shrug off the lingering coronavirus hangover, local debt and property market woes to drive global growth. It is provided by a middle-class consumer colossus.
“China’s 400 million middle-income consumers represent a colossal purchasing power and offer huge market potential [for foreign businesses],” he said, urging other leading economies to make “a concerted effort” with Beijing to pursue mutual benefit.
The need to leverage this vast market dynamic is mutual, and in that regard Li pledged further opening up of the economy. China would relax policies and buy more goods from foreign businesses, offering greater opportunities to multinationals that look to the country for growth. President Xi Jinping reinforced the premier’s message in a congratulatory letter to the event, saying a stalling global economy needed coordination to pursue recovery.
It all adds up to welcome reassurance that a national security conscious China has not turned inward. Key to recovery is the thawing of the China-US bilateral relationship, reflected in a visit to the United States this week by Vice-Premier He Lifeng, who is tasked with overseeing Sino-US economic dialogues. He is expected to meet Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. His visit comes ahead of a likely summit between presidents Xi and Joe Biden on the sidelines of the Apec conference in San Francisco that begins on Saturday.