The just-ended Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings, where Chinese leaders and industry representatives stressed the importance of openness and inclusiveness in development, brought the Chinese business community stronger confidence in cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.
Companies that had participated in the meetings said that they stand ready to contribute to a more open economy in the Asia-Pacific region, the Global Times learned.
Addressing the 30th APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday stressed the importance of staying committed to openness in development, and said that APEC members should promote free and open trade and investment, support and strengthen the WTO-centered multilateral trading regime, and keep global industry and supply chains open and stable, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Saturday.
In recent decades, Asia-Pacific economic cooperation has injected strong impetus into regional development and effectively improved the well-being of people in all countries. Now the world is optimistic about China’s huge market, Xu Qiang, Full Truck Alliance vice president, told the Global Times.
“A politically stable, prosperous and open China will surely bring more development opportunities to the world economy. The Chinese economy has become deeply integrated into the world economy. We believe that China’s door of opening-up will not be closed, but will simply open even wider,” said Xu.
Xu said that the influence of Chinese companies in the world and the Asia-Pacific region is gradually increasing. With the continuous growth of China’s economy and the continuous improvement of its international status, the influence of Chinese enterprises in the Asia-Pacific region and the world is also expanding.
“Chinese firms have made significant contributions in the global energy transformation,” Li Zhenguo, president of LONGi Green Energy Technology Co, told the Global Times on the sidelines of the 2023 APEC conference in San Francisco.
Li stressed that LONGi will also call for a more open approach to global trade, and continue to strategize the global distribution of production capacity.
More than 120 representatives from nearly 80 Chinese companies participated in the APEC CEO Summit 2023 in San Francisco, the Global Times learned from the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT).
“During the APEC meetings, we had extensive exchanges with enterprises in the Asia-Pacific region. We are full of confidence in the development of the Asia-Pacific, especially in building an open Asia-Pacific economy and strengthening regional economic integration as proposed by the Chinese top leader,” Ren Hongbin, chairman of the CCPIT, said at the APEC CEO Summit 2023.
“China has continuously optimized its business environment in recent years by gradually relaxing market access and building high-level open platforms. We [China] also have ranked second in the world in attracting foreign investment for five consecutive years,” said Ren.
China has unswervingly promoted opening-up and supported multilateral free trade. China is committed to strengthening regional economic integration and has made important contributions to regional economic recovery and development, analysts noted.
Ren cited as an example, the China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE), which will be held from November 28 to December 2 in Beijing.
The CISCE is the world’s first supply chain-themed exhibition at the national level, with the aim of providing an international platform for advancing orderly and efficient industrial synergy across countries.
“Not only large enterprises, such as the world’s top 500 enterprises, will participate in the first CISCE, but also many small and medium-sized enterprises. We will set up booths free of charge for some less-developed countries, so that they can participate in global industry and supply chain cooperation and contribute to jointly maintaining the stability of the global industry chain,” said Ren.
Projections of the CCPIT indicate that in the next five years, China’s total merchandise trade is expected to exceed $32 trillion, with services trade to exceed $5 trillion, which will bring more market, investment and growth opportunities around the world.
(Global Times)
