Xi steers import expo into global platform for sharing Chinese opportunities

SHANGHAI- Entering its fifth edition this year, the China International Import Expo in Shanghai has become a vital platform for promoting trade, investment and global cooperation, and a "golden gate" to the vast Chinese market.

This year's expo gathered 145 countries, regions and international organizations. Enterprises from 127 countries and regions were involved in the event, including those from all the member states of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership -- the world's largest free trade deal yet.

A total of $73.52 billion worth of tentative deals were reached for one-year purchases of goods and services at the fifth CIIE, which concluded Thursday, up 3.9 percent year-on-year.

As a creation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, the CIIE is the world's first import expo held at the national level.

President Xi has personally planned, proposed, deployed and promoted the expo. For five consecutive years, Xi's speeches and remarks have signaled to the world that China will become more open.

"Five years ago, I announced the decision to hold the CIIE for the very purpose of expanding China's opening-up and turning our enormous market into enormous opportunities for the world. Today, the CIIE has become a showcase of China's new development paradigm, a platform for high-standard opening-up, and a public good for the whole world," Xi said Friday at the opening ceremony of the fifth CIIE.