The Finnish pavilion at the China International Import Expo. (People's Daily Online)
The China International Import Expo—the world's first import-themed exhibition at a national level—was a major innovation in the history of international trade. In the past several days, the National Convention and Exhibition Center has welcomed more than 3,000 international exhibitors and many more purchasers. Among the hundreds of thousands of buyers, private entrepreneurs in China were enthusiastic in seizing the opportunity to establish relations with foreign businesses.
In the past forty years since reform and opening-up, the private sector has witnessed significant development and contributed strongly to the growth of the Chinese economy. In terms of international trade, the proportion of private enterprises in China’s imports and exports to foreign countries has continued to increase. In the first 10 months of this year, imports and exports done by private companies totaled 9.88 trillion yuan ($1.42 trillion), an increase of 14.6%, accounting for 39.4% of China’s total foreign trade value.
The biggest exhibit of the Expo, the Taurus milling machine, will not be shipped back to Germany, as it has found a new owner in China. The giant tool, which weighs nearly 200 tonnes and takes up an area of 200 square meters, has been purchased by a private enterprise from the Yangtze River Delta, although the name of the company and the specific transaction price have not yet been released.
An aviation technology company from Huzhou of eastern China’s Zhejiang province has signed a contract with Russian Aviation Technology Center Zvenda to purchase more than a hundred Mi -2 helicopters and dozens of Mi-171 helicopters for a total of several hundred millions US dollars.
Wang Xiaowei, the purchasing manager of Xi’an Baiyue Goat Milk Group, has been busy signing agreements with international first-class equipment suppliers from Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, and other countries, worth a cumulative amount of more than $20 million.
The Expo has set up a world-class platform for private companies to connect with their global counterparts. “Regardless of the size of the company, we’re presented an equal opportunity to do business with the world’s best companies and we cherish the ticket to the exhibition very much," said Li Xinggan, a trade representative from southwestern China’s Sichuan province.
"In the next 10 years or more, China will be the best market in the world," Ding Lei, CEO of China’s internet giant Netease predicted, adding that that his company will help more overseas quality brands to enter the Chinese market and share China’s "new consumption" opportunities. Kaola.com, the cross-border e-commerce arm of Netease, has agreed to buy nearly $3 billion worth of products from over 110 global companies, completing part of it’s plan to make $20 billion in direct purchases from its partners across the globe.
Other e-commerce giants, including Alibaba, Suning.com, and JD.com have also announced plans to expand imports and deepen cooperation with international brands.
Earlier this month, President Xi Jinping stressed China’s unswerving support for development of private enterprises. "The private sectors contributions are undeniable for the country to be able to make miraculous achievements in economic development," Xi said. “The principle and policies to unswerving encourage, support, and guide the development of the non-public sector have not changed, and the principle and policies to provide a sound environment and more opportunities to the sector have not changed either,” the president added.
By the end pf 2017, the 27 million private enterprises and 65 million individual business owners in China accounted for more than 50% of China’s tax revenue, more than 60% of GDP, more than 70% of technological innovations, and more than 80% of urban employment opportunities. Their active engagement in the Expo has once again proved their dynamic and will bear more fruits in the long term as the Chinese market becomes more inclusive.
