BEIJING: Chinese Premier Li Qiang attended Wednesday’s opening ceremony of the 140th China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, in Guangzhou, capital of south China’s Guangdong Province, and delivered a keynote speech.
Premier Li said the fair, now in its 70th year, has offered the world a window into China’s economic vitality, social progress and the deepening ties between China and the world.
An increasingly open, innovative and reliable China will bring new opportunities, fresh growth drivers and greater certainty to the world, Li said. Li pointed out that the Canton Fair has stood the test of shifting international circumstances and kept brimming with fresh vitality, embodying plain yet profound inspirations.
“Market connectivity is not a tool for playing games, but an effective means to generate incremental growth. China is committed to promoting the continuous integration and common growth of its domestic market and the international market, and building an open world economy,” the premier said.
Li said China is willing to import more high-quality products, especially high-value-added products. “We hope that more countries will work with China in the same direction, lift restrictions and actively promote the optimized and balanced development of trade,” he added.
“As the largest developing country, China has always been committed to promoting common development,” said the premier. “China will always be a trustworthy and reliable good friend of developing countries and is willing to join hands with the vast number of developing countries on the journey to modernization,” he added.
He said China stands ready to share more market opportunities, expand more mutually beneficial cooperation and firmly safeguard the international economic and trade order with all parties.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO), delivered a video address noting that China has achieved remarkable development and provided rare opportunities for the world.
Highlighting the Canton Fair as a vital platform connecting China with the global economy, Okonjo-Iweala called on all parties to advance WTO reform and build an open, rules-based global trading system amid growing international uncertainties.
More than 700 representatives from nearly 90 countries and regions attended the opening ceremony.
This edition of the Canton Fair will bring together more than 30,000 exhibiting companies and about 340,000 overseas buyers. –The Daily Mail-CGTN news exchange item
