Opinion

China's "importathon" at nine -- what keeps it running?

Call it an "importathon" -- a blend of "import" and "marathon", the ninth China International Import Expo (CIIE) kicked off as scheduled in Shanghai on November 5. Amid accelerated shifts in the global landscape and a volatile and intertwined international situation, this grand event serves not only as a vivid epitome of China's continued expansion of high-level opening-up, but also offers precious certainty to a world in turbulence and transformation.

Nine years of dedicated efforts have expanded CIIE's circle of friends and sharpened its hallmark of openness. This year's expo has attracted 4,142 overseas exhibitors, including more than 2,000 newcomers, with total exhibition area exceeding 440,000 square meters. The exhibitors bring their competitive products to seek opportunities in the Chinese market, spanning manufacturing, consumption, services and other sectors.

The Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan calls for proactively advancing the debut economy. CIIE stands as a key platform fueling the vigorous growth of the debut economy. Over 480 exhibits are set to make their global, Asian or China debut at the event, the highest number in history. Cutting-edge innovations including the split-type endoscopic surgical robot, 360-degree sound-sensing cochlear implant and 6G terminal prototype make a concentrated appearance. The Technology & Equipment Exhibition Area covers the full semiconductor industrial chain, with intensive releases of achievements in artificial intelligence, new-generation mobile communications and other fields.

The value of CIIE has long transcended mere commodity transactions. While opening its super-large market to the world, China has turned the CIIE into a vital platform for the globe to pool cooperation insights and forge consensus on development. From targeted trade matching and innovation incubation to industrial coordination dialogues and in-depth integration between the expo and host city, CIIE has established diverse docking mechanisms to efficiently align supply and demand. It helps expand cooperation from simple goods trade toward profound industrial integration and convergence of development philosophies.

Over nine editions, CIIE keeps setting new records in scale and innovation capacity. What remains unchanged is China's resolve to advance high-level opening-up and sincerity in sharing development opportunities. Opening-up marches on, and import knows no bounds. China will work with all countries to create opportunities through openness and tackle challenges via cooperation, injecting greater positive energy into building an open world economy.

Policy

1. Recently, Hainan Provincial Department of Finance and two other authorities jointly issued a circular specifying that eligible goods sold within the island are subject to the tariff exemption policy for value-added processing, which marked the policy's official rollout within the Hainan Free Trade Port.

2. The People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, said on November 4 it would step up implementation of its re-lending policy for stock repurchases and increased holdings to maintain capital market stability. Starting from November 4, the interest rate on the re-lending facility was lowered by 25 basis points to 1 percent.

Data

1. According to the China Electricity Council, the share of new energy in installed capacity in China's high-altitude areas has risen from an average of 28.5 percent over the past five years to 52.9 percent, 4.4 percentage points higher than the national average. By the end of September, new energy power generation capacity in China's high-altitude areas reached 528 million kilowatts, accounting for 25.6 percent of the country's total new energy capacity.

2. The total value of China's social logistics reached RMB 280 trillion in the January-September period, up 4.9 percent year on year, according to data from the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing. Within this growth, equipment manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing played a prominent leading role.

3. According to the Beijing Stock Exchange, as of October 30, all 354 listed companies on the exchange had disclosed their third-quarter reports for 2026. In the first three quarters, they reported average operating revenue of RMB 632 million, up 15.3 percent year on year, and average net profit attributable to shareholders of RMB 47.68 million, up 2.27 percent year on year.

4. China's services imports and exports totaled RMB 5.77 trillion in the January-September period, up 8.5 percent year on year, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

5. China's agricultural and rural development maintained sound momentum in the first three quarters, supporting stable and improving economic performance, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said. With over 90 percent of autumn grain harvested, the full-year grain output is expected to exceed 1.4 trillion jin (700 million metric tons) for a third straight year.

6. As of the end of September, the cumulative installed capacity of new-type energy storage in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region exceeded 25.1 million kilowatts, up 90.6 percent year on year, with 4.964 million kilowatts added during the year, ranking first nationwide in the total installed capacity, State Grid Xinjiang Electric Power Co, Ltd. said.

7. The 2026 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit opened on November 3. The Light of Internet Expo, held concurrently until November 5, has attracted 670 companies from 54 countries and regions, showcasing more than 1,000 technological achievements, including over 20 global debut products.

8. China's rural consumer goods retail sales rose 4.1 percent year on year to RMB 6.8 trillion in 2025, according to a report on China's county-level commercial development in 2026, released by the Ministry of Commerce on November 3. The figures showed the steady growth in rural consumption.

9. China has established the world's most comprehensive marine industry system, covering all 15 major marine industries, the National Development and Reform Commission said. Marine aquatic output hit 38.74 million tons in 2025, the world's largest for 37 straight years, while marine tourism value added reached RMB 1.6 trillion, making China the world's second-largest cruise market.

10. China's artificial intelligence industry has maintained relatively rapid growth, with the country's enterprise AI agent market reaching RMB 21.2 billion, and the embodied intelligence market approaching approximately RMB 915 billion in 2025. It is projected that by 2030, AI will contribute USD 22.3 trillion to the global economy, accounting for 3.7 percent of global GDP in the corresponding year, according to the China Internet Development Report 2026 released at this year's World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit in Wuzhen, East China's Zhejiang province.

(Source: Economic Daily)