International Critical Review丨The CIIE Agreement Lets the World Share the Dividends of Openness

"As a "full-time student" who has participated in the CIIE for nine consecutive years, we look forward to deepening cooperation with more partners and sharing the opportunities of the times. We hope to grow together with the Chinese market, take root in the long-term, and increase investment... At the ongoing 9th China International Import Expo, commentators from "International Critical Review" talked with a number of foreign company executives and found that "China Opportunity 2.0" has become a keyword in their mouths; in the first year of the "15th Five-Year Plan", multinational companies are generally eager to seize the important opportunities of expanding China's large market and improving quality.

As the world's first national-level exhibition with an import theme, the CIIE has become a window for China to build a new development pattern, a platform to promote high-level opening up, and an international public product shared globally. Judging from the current CIIE, there are many highlights: 4,142 overseas companies from 148 countries and regions participated in the exhibition, the highest number ever; the number of Fortune 500 and industry leading companies in the exhibition exceeded 300 for the first time, nearly 200 companies and institutions have become "full-time students" participating in the expo for nine consecutive years, and the exhibition area of ​​American companies has maintained the first place for eight consecutive years; more than 480 representative exhibits were premiered globally, first in Asia, and first in China, setting a new high. "The Chinese market contains huge opportunities" and "a window of opportunity for global enterprises"...international public opinion has positively evaluated it.

Viewed in a global context, the value and significance of the CIIE are even more prominent. Currently, the century-old changes in the world are accelerating, economic globalization is facing countercurrents, and the problem of unbalanced global development is prominent. As the world's second largest economy, China firmly pursues a mutually beneficial and win-win opening strategy. The "World Openness Report 2026" released during this CIIE shows that from 1990 to 2025, China's openness index increased by 28.18%, ranking among the top in the world. Data shows that the first eight CIIEs have attracted a total of 27,000 companies from more than 180 countries and regions to participate in the exhibition, with intended transaction volume exceeding US$580 billion, constantly turning "exhibits into commodities" and "exhibitors into investors."

The nine consecutive years of "CIIE appointment" have witnessed that China is the "world factory" and the "world market", a "super seller" and a "super buyer". At present, China has been the world's second largest import market for 17 consecutive years and is the main trading partner of more than 160 countries and regions. In the first three quarters, imports increased by 22.3% year-on-year. The "15th Five-Year Plan" outline emphasizes promoting the balanced development of imports and exports and proposes "continuously hosting the CIIE", which will further release the potential of the ultra-large market and allow the world to better share "China Opportunity 2.0".

The market is the scarcest resource. China's large market continues to expand and will make the "cake" of common development bigger. In 2025, China's total retail sales of consumer goods will exceed 50 trillion yuan for the first time, and it is expected to grow by another 10 trillion yuan in the next five years. Cai Menghong, President of Herbalife China, told International Review that China’s policy guidance and consumption upgrading trends have given the company confidence in the Chinese market. Lin Xiaohui, head of management of OSIM (China) headquarters in Singapore, said that in recent years, she has deeply felt the tolerance and vitality of the Chinese market. The company will adhere to "long-termism" and share the opportunities in China's large market.

It is worth mentioning that this year’s CIIE was linked to the annual theme country event of “Exporting to China” for the first time, and the “Exporting to China Capacity Development Report” was released for the first time. The report analyzes the performance and potential of each country's exports to China and provides targeted reference suggestions. It is foreseeable that in the future, more countries will share the dividends of the Chinese market through the "Export to China" activity.

China's large market not only expands in scale, but also relies on innovation to improve quality, attracting global companies to set up R&D centers and regional headquarters in China, and deeply integrating into China's innovation and industrial chains. Liu Ling, global executive vice president of Philips of the Netherlands and president of Greater China, told International Review that China's rich clinical scenarios, diverse health needs and strong innovation capabilities have created unique advantages, making it possible to "launch Chinese innovations at China's speed". Yin Zheng, executive vice president of Schneider Electric and president of China and East Asia, said that the CIIE has become a world-class platform to promote industrial collaboration.

At the same time, through the CIIE window, the world can clearly see that China continues to expand high-level opening up to the outside world and continues to promote inclusive economic globalization. This year coincides with the 25th anniversary of China's accession to the WTO. Currently, China's overall tariff level has dropped to 7.3%, which is close to the average level of developed members. Since its first session, the CIIE has provided convenience for least developed countries to participate in the exhibition by providing various benefits such as booth construction and exhibit transportation. This year's CIIE has further upgraded the Asia-Africa product area, and the free booth area provided to the least developed countries has increased by 17%, allowing economies at different stages of development to equally share the opportunities in China's large market. Karenzi Karak Emmanuel, Rwanda’s ambassador to China, said that the CIIE has proven to be an extremely valuable platform that can help Rwandan companies enter the Chinese market and establish long-term and stable business partnerships.

"New Era, Shared Future" - The CIIE comes as scheduled every year, witnessing China's firm determination and pragmatic actions to promote high-level opening up to the outside world, witnessing the remarkable results and huge gains of enterprises and people from all over the world in sharing China's market opportunities, and witnessing the unremitting efforts and important contributions of people of insight from all walks of life to improve global economic governance. As more and more companies share China's market dividends, innovation dividends and development dividends, "China Opportunities 2.0" will become more tangible.

(International critical commentator)