Macron to attend Shanghai opening of import expo

French President Emmanuel Macron will attend the opening ceremony of the second China International Import Expo and make a state visit to China from Nov 4 to 6, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying announced on Wednesday.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness and Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic will also attend the opening ceremony, Hua said.

Sixty-three foreign countries are set to attend the expo in Shanghai, as well as more than 3,000 companies from around 150 countries and regions, including 192 companies from the United States - 18 percent more US companies than last year.

That shows that foreign companies, including those from the US, are optimistic about China's economic prospects and market potential, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Wednesday.

"They want to continue to invest in and deepen cooperation with China," he said at a daily news briefing.

China's reform will only get faster, and the country will only become more open, Geng said, citing a recent report of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The report says in this year's first half, global foreign direct investment flows dropped by 20 percent from the second half of last year.

Investment inflows to the US dropped by more than 25 percent, while those to China increased by about 5 percent, the report indicates.

The decline in FDI worldwide reflects the worsening of the global investment environment, caused primarily by protectionism and unilateralism, Geng said.

Less investment in the US and more investment in China "shows clearly who is becoming more and more open, and who more and more conservative", he added.

Geng urged countries to uphold free global trade and an open world economy.

"We call for the international community to work together against unilateralism and protectionism and provide a more fair, just and predictable environment for investors from all countries," he said.