Expand imports with greater efforts and more practical measures (International Guanlan)

General Secretary Xi Jinping attaches great importance to expanding imports and profoundly points out that "China's proactive expansion of imports is not a temporary measure, but a long-term consideration for the world, the future, and promoting common development. The outline of the 15th Five Year Plan deploys the expansion of high-level opening up to the outside world, proposes to promote balanced development of imports and exports, and enhance the functions of trade promotion platforms. On November 4, 2025, Premier Li Qiang attended the launch ceremony of the "Sharing the Big Market and Exporting to China" series of activities. This once again firmly demonstrates to the world that China has always adhered to sharing opportunities and achieving win-win results with the world in open development, advocating for joint efforts to promote inclusive economic globalization, and promoting the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind.

The "Export to China" series of activities is an innovative move in the history of global trade. Currently, unilateralism, protectionism, especially high tariffs and other economic and trade barriers are increasing, seriously impacting the international economic and trade order and posing enormous challenges to the development of many countries. In this era, China has launched the "Export to China" series of activities, which is an initiative of China to expand independent opening up, actively expand imports, and promote balanced trade development. It is an innovative move from the perspective of trading partners to jointly expand the cooperation cake and maintain the multilateral trading system. It is also a practical action to implement global development initiatives and promote common development of all countries.

Proactively expanding imports and promoting balanced development of imports and exports provide Chinese wisdom and solutions for jointly responding to global changes. For China, expanding the import of advanced technology, key equipment, high-quality resources, and high-quality consumer goods is conducive to promoting industrial upgrading, improving consumption quality, and better meeting the needs of the people for a better life. For trading partners, the Chinese market brings orders, employment, and development opportunities. At the "Export to China" UK event held on July 1st, Wu Sitian, Chairman of the UK China Business Council, said, "It is very rare for a trade minister from one country to come to another country to promote exports from that country to their own country." For the world, China's contribution to global economic growth has remained at around 30% for many years. A China that continues to expand imports will undoubtedly be a powerful engine for global trade recovery and economic growth.

Proactively expanding imports and promoting balanced development of imports and exports rely not only on activities as a platform, but also on policy empowerment. In terms of activities, as of the end of July, the "Export to China" series of events has been held nearly 40 times both domestically and internationally this year, achieving mutual promotion with "Buy in China" and "Invest in China", coordinating with major exhibitions such as the China International Import Expo and the Consumer Expo, and linking with cross-border e-commerce retail imports, online consumption expansion activities, and the "Silk Road E-commerce Benefiting the World" theme event. Government officials, business associations, and enterprise representatives from Africa and other regions come to China to participate in the "Export to China" capacity training. In terms of policies, we will continue to leverage trade promotion platforms such as the CIIE to turn exhibits into commodities and better meet the growing needs of the people for a better life. Cultivate high-quality import trade promotion innovation demonstration zones in 43 countries, and develop new formats and models such as cross-border e-commerce retail imports. Promote the integration of trade and investment, and foster a positive interaction between imports and two-way investment. Give full play to the zero tariff measures for 53 African countries that have established diplomatic relations with China, and encourage all least developed countries that have established diplomatic relations with China to make good use of the 100% tariff free treatment for products provided by China. Promote the upgrading of the "green channel" for African agricultural and food products to be exported to China, and further expand the export of high-quality African agricultural and food products to China.

Proactively expanding imports and promoting balanced development of imports and exports will bring more new opportunities to countries around the world. The Chinese market is large enough and will continue to grow. China has a population of over 1.4 billion and a middle-income group of over 400 million, making it a major export destination for about 80 countries and regions. In the first half of 2026, China's import volume of goods trade reached RMB 10.74 trillion, a year-on-year increase of 22.1%. With positive growth in imports from more than 150 trading partners, the annual import volume is expected to exceed RMB 20 trillion for the first time. The Chinese economy has injected valuable certainty into a world of increasing uncertainty and played an important role as a "safe haven".

To respond to the call of the times and join hands to tackle global challenges, what we need is not to create divisive divides, but to build bridges of communication. China is implementing the Global Development Initiative with the practical action of "exporting to China", supporting countries, especially developing countries, to expand exports to China. We will promote global openness through our own openness, firmly uphold the multilateral trading system, build a higher-level open world economy, and provide stability and certainty for the world economy. Sincerely welcome all parties to seize the new opportunities of "exporting to China" and grow and share prosperity with the Chinese market.