Xi, foreign leaders tour CIIE exhibitions

SHANGHAI - Chinese President Xi Jinping, together with foreign leaders who are attending the second China International Import Expo (CIIE), toured the exhibitions after an opening ceremony Tuesday in Shanghai.

Accompanied by French President Emmanuel Macron, Xi visited the French exhibition area and tasted French wine and beef. French entrepreneurs said they are bullish about the Chinese market and hope to further expand exports to China.

Xi said he hopes French entrepreneurs can take a long-term view and strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation with China.

Chinese and foreign leaders also visited the exhibition areas of Tanzania, Greece, Italy, Jamaica, Indonesia and Russia.

The special products from each country have their own competitiveness, Xi said, expressing his hope that all countries attending the expo reinforce the promotion of their products to better meet the Chinese people's aspirations to live a better life.

While visiting the Chinese exhibition area, foreign leaders viewed the models of China's home-grown five-hundred-meter aperture spherical telescope and its deep-sea manned submersible.

In front of a countdown screen for winning the country's battle against poverty, Xi said China is ready to share its poverty relief experience with other countries and jointly build a community with a shared future for humanity featuring common development and the elimination of poverty.

Chinese and foreign leaders also toured the exhibition areas for China's Taiwan, Macao and Hong Kong.

Foreign leaders spoke highly of the CIIE, which provides an opportunity for promoting bilateral economic and trade relations. They also expressed their optimism about China's development and the bright prospects of the Belt and Road Initiative, and their hopes to seek common development and prosperity with China.