Import expo shows China is open for business
- Foreign companies, particularly from the US, will be out in force to sell to a country with a middle class numbering more than 400 million
The United States-China trade war, now in its 16th month, has seen commerce between the world’s two biggest economies nosedive, leading many experts to speculate that economic decoupling is inevitable. Logical though that prediction may seem, it has been confounded from an unexpected quarter – corporate America. There will be more American companies at the second annual China International Import Expo, from tomorrow until the weekend, than there were at last year’s inaugural event, according to the Ministry for Commerce. Talk of decoupling therefore seems a bit premature.
Commerce officials have confirmed that 192 American companies have signed up for the state-run event for foreign firms hoping to sell into the domestic market, compared with 174 last year. The American exhibition area will be the biggest, according to Assistant Commerce Minister Ren Hongbin. It would include many US Fortune 500 companies, showing the fair’s attraction to American firms. These figures will be music to the government’s ears. President Xi Jinping is to attend the expo for the second year in a row to deliver the opening keynote speech, showing Beijing’s commitment to the event and realisation of how important it is during these uncertain times to keep China’s market open to the world.
The expo was to be followed within two weeks by a meeting between Xi and US President Donald Trump after a regional summit in Santiago, Chile, when they were expected to sign a phase-one trade deal for China to buy more American farm products in exchange for postponement of planned tariff increases. Sadly, social unrest in Chile has forced cancellation of the summit, while officials on both sides seek mutually convenient dates to reschedule the Xi-Trump meeting. That said, a delay may not be a bad thing. Less haste to meet a deadline will give officials more space to reach a lasting deal.
Participation in the expo is a no-brainer for foreign exporters, with the mainland’s middle class well in excess of 400-million-strong and domestic consumption accounting for the lion’s share of economic growth. Moreover, many of them are from countries involved in China’s Belt and Road Initiative infrastructure project. Most importantly, the expo signals broader access to China’s markets when multilateralism and free trade are facing challenges.