By Guo Jiping, People’s Daily

China will host the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) in Beijing from Oct. 17 to 18. It is reported that representatives from over 140 countries and more than 30  international organizations have confirmed their attendance at the event.

Despite the turbulent international situation, China has rolled out the red carpet to welcome guests from all over the world, which demonstrates the country’s unswerving commitment to promoting world peace and development.

Over the past decade since Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), stories of win-win cooperation have continued to unfold along this public road of shared opportunities and common development.

So far, over 150 countries and more than 30 international organizations have signed more than 200 BRI cooperation agreements with China;the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has grown from 57 founding members to 109 members,which account for 81 percent of the world’s population and 65 percent of global GDP; andmore than 80 routeshave been launched for the China-Europe freight trains,reaching 217 cities in 25 European countries.

Experience over the past 10 years has fully proven that the BRI is an open and inclusive platform and a global public good jointly built by all partners.

International analysts have eagerly sought to understand what allowed China to conceive the grand initiative and accomplish significant achievements in furthering its development.

The BRI is the result of China’s reflections on the future and destiny of humanity. In March 2013, in the face of the profound questions of “What is wrong with the world?” and “What should we do about it?”, which concern the world, history and the times, Xicreatively proposed the concept of building a global community with a shared future for mankind.

By launching the BRI, China aims to put this concept into practice and build a practical platform and open up paths for creating an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world that enjoys lasting peace, universal security and common prosperity.

The BRI stemmed from China’sunshakeable pursuit of world peace and development. China unswervingly follows the path of peaceful development. It safeguards world peace to ensure its own growth, and contributes to world peace through its own development.

Taking the path of peaceful development is China’s response to international concerns about its development direction, and also a reflection of the confidence and consciousness of the Chinese people in achieving their development goals.

By proposing the BRI, China strives not only to pursue its own development and enhance its capacity to safeguard world peace, but also to benefit the world by strengthening the forces for upholding world peace and development.

In pursuing Belt and Road cooperation, China will not resort tothe outdated geopolitical maneuvering, but will create a new model of win-win cooperation. It will not form “a small groupdetrimental to stability”, but will try to create “a big family of harmonious coexistence“.

The success of the BRIrepresents the success of China’s development path and experience. China has achieved the two miracles of rapid economic growth and long-term social stability,resolved its problem of absolute poverty once for all, and realized its first centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. The fundamental reason for these achievements is that China has found a successful development path that is suited to its national conditions and people’s aspirations and supported by its people.

With nine percent of the world’s arable land and six percent of the freshwater resources, China feeds nearly one-fifth of the world’s population. In 2022, China’s GDP expanded to 121 trillion yuan ($16.56 trillion), while its share of the global economy rose to 18 percent, demonstrating remarkable development achievements.

The success of China’s development path has strengthened other developing countries’ determination to pursue paths based on their own national realities, and China’s great achievements in development have boosted other developing countries’ confidence in realizing national prosperity, national rejuvenation and improving people’s wellbeing. The BRI has provided valuable opportunities for other developing countries to draw on China’s development experience.

The success of the BRI is the success of China’s commitment to open development. Only when a country is strong enough can it have the confidence to open its doors to the world, and opening up in turn enhances itsprosperity. The BRI is a major initiative China has launched to expand opening up. It is not a solo endeavor by China, but a collaborative effort involving all stakeholders.

In the face ofa rising tide of de-globalization, China remains firmly committed to high-level opening up, creatingan even brighter future for cooperation under the BRI.

The BRI has continuously broken deadlocks, removed bottlenecks and spurred innovations, showing the world that only by building an open world economy can countries improve the wellbeing of their peoples.

As former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero pointed out, the BRI upholds an open and inclusivevision for development that transcends borders and zero-sum game mindset, which is precisely the development philosophy the world urgently needs today.

By Liao Ruiling

The sixth China International Import Expo (CIIE) is scheduled to be held in Shanghai from Nov. 5 to 10 this year, signifying the first complete return to in-person exhibitions for the event since COVID-19.

Attending trade fairs and showcasing products is one of the channels for many companies to explore new markets and boost their sales. As a major international exhibition platform for China’s opening up, the CIIE is widely recognized by businesses as a crucial channel for expanding their market presence.

Many enterprises said they were looking forward to the event, emphasizing their hope to leverage this opportunity to deepen their foothold in the Chinese market.

Hou Mingjuan, vice-president of Qualcomm, said that Qualcomm was among the first group of American companies to participate in the inaugural CIIE back in 2018. Over the following years, Qualcomm has become a regular participant in the expo, and this year it has already begun preparations for the event, she added.

“Honeywell will focus on showcasing our innovative technologies and solutions at this year’s CIIE, and we will also unveil our flagship product. Through this global platform, we hope to leverage our company’s strengths in aviation, energy transformation, digitalization, and automation to explore more mutually beneficial opportunities with Chinese enterprises,” said Yu Feng, President of Honeywell China.

Why do companies regard the CIIE as a “major event” of the year? Many attribute it to the significant spillover effects of the exhibition.

“The CIIE is an important platform for companies to showcase new technologies and products, as well as a vital channel for staying updated on the latest industry trends and information. Through major exhibitions, we have the opportunity to connect with potential customers and partners. In fact, we met the Ambassador of Mongolia to China at the CIIE, which led to the application of our electrochemical air management products in Mongolia’s National Center for Maternal and Child Health,” said Chen Zhihua, chairman and general manager of Chinese high-tech enterprise Qingyue Technology.

“It can be said that the CIIE injects more momentum into the development of small- and medium-sized enterprises like us,” he added.

“The CIIE has become a significant platform for China to promote high-level opening-up and a crucial bridge connecting foreign enterprises with the Chinese market,” remarked Yan Zhijun, marketing director of Theland, a dairy farm group from New Zealand.

As a staunch supporter of the CIIE, Theland has been showcasing its latest products at the expo for five consecutive years, Yan noted.

He said that the growing demand of Chinese consumers for high-quality products has provided new business opportunities for global companies.

With the support of the CIIE, Theland has experienced rapid development in the Chinese market. According Yan, one of every three cans of milk powder exported from New Zealand to China is manufactured by Theland.

At the same time, China’s trade facilitation has been continuously improving. Yan said that when Theland first entered the Chinese market, China’s tariff on milk from New Zealand was 15 percent. Thanks to China’s efforts in recent years to implement preferential policies, the tariff on liquid milk from New Zealand, for example, has now been fully exempted, Yan added.

In line with the trend of China’s high-quality economic development, exhibits to the CIIE from around the world are becoming more and more tech-savvy in recent years, with a stronger emphasis on their green and low-carbon performance.

“Driven by the goal of high-quality development, China is vigorously promoting the deep integration of digital technology and the real economy, while continuously pushing for a green transformation of its development model,” Yu said.

According to him, Honeywell, pursuing sustainable development, designs around 60 percent of its new products with an aim of improving customers’ environmental performance and social benefits.

The company’s core business aligns with the demands and development trends of the Chinese market, he said, adding that the trend of high-quality development of the Chinese economy also creates development opportunities for Honeywell and other companies.

As many multinational companies continue to expand their presence in the Chinese market, they are also increasing their investment in China.

Recently, Schneider Shanghai Power Distribution Electrical Apparatus Co. Ltd. had its third-phase construction completed, erecting a brand-new digital and automated “zero-carbon factory.”

With an operational area of 6,500 square meters, the factory is expected to increase its overall production capacity by 30 percent. In the future, more low-voltage circuit breakers for energy management will be produced in this factory, contributing to the safe and stable operation of China’s power system and accelerating the green and low-carbon transformation of the energy system.

According to statistics, the number of newly established foreign-invested enterprises in China reached 24,000 in the first half of this year, representing a year-on-year increase of 35.7 percent. The quality of foreign investment continued to improve. Foreign investment in high-tech industries grew 7.9 percent year-over-year, accounting for 39.4 percent of total foreign investment, up 3.9 percentage points. Of this, foreign investment in high-tech manufacturing increased 28.8 percent.

By Liu Shi’an, Xie Weiqun, Fang Min, People’s Daily

Building pilot free trade zones (FTAs) is an important strategic measure of China to comprehensively deepen reform and expand opening up in the new era.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of China’s first pilot FTZ in Shanghai. Over the past decade, the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, or Shanghai FTZ, has achieved a series of important outcomes in liberalizing and facilitating trade and investment, promoting financial openness and innovation, and enhancing governance capability of the government.

Aligned with international economic and trade practices, the Shanghai FTZ introduced a negative list for foreign investment upon its establishment. Market access for foreign investment has transitioned from a review-based system to a filing-based one. Today, there number of items on the list has been shortened to 27 from 190 , with no restrictions imposed on the manufacturing sector.

This July, leading circular materials technology company Umicore headquartered in Belgium set up a technology development company in the Waigaoqiao Bonded area of the Shanghai FTZ, with an investment of 15 million euros ($15.92 million).

“Less items on the negative list mean less restrictions. The market access for foreign investment is getting wider and wider, which better facilitates the investment of enterprises,” said Zhang Kefang, an executive of Umicore.

As the negative list shortened, the Shanghai FTZ has implemented a number of first-in-China projects in 60 areas of opening up including automobile manufacturing, financial services, medical services, and value-added telecommunications. It promoted the formulation of the systems of pre-establishment national treatment and negative list for foreign investment, as well as their incorporation in the foreign investment law, and introduced the negative list for foreign investment to cross-border service trade and market access sectors.

The establishment of a “single window” platform for international trade marked a significant innovation of the Shanghai FTZ in promoting trade facilitation.

As the head of the planning department of Shanghai-based E&P international, a company specialized in the development of information technology in aspects of international trade and port logistics, Pan Xiaodong was involved in the development of the “single window” platform ten years ago.

“Similar to ‘one-stop online service’ in the field of international trade, this platform seamlessly integrates customs, quarantine, maritime, and border inspection information, greatly facilitating customs clearance and trade,” Pan said.

So far, the “single window” platform has served over 600,000 trade enterprises, facilitating the data processing of more than a quarter of China’s total trade in goods.

The Shanghai FTZ takes institutional innovation as its core task, with a focus on generating replicable and scalable institutional outcomes. Of the 302 institutional innovation outcomes for FTZs promoted nationwide, nearly half were pioneered or synchronously piloted in Shanghai.

Finance is a crucial area for the experimentation of free trade. Speaking of the opening up of the financial sector, Lu Fang, CEO of J.P. Morgan Securities (China) Co., Ltd. noted that foreign investment in the financial sector used to be subject to equity ownership restrictions. “The Shanghai FTZ has been at the forefront of financial liberalization,” Lu added.

The free trade account introduced by the Shanghai FTZ is a “pioneer” in innovative cross-border RMB business, with integrated financial services for cross-border settlement and financing in both RMB and foreign currencies.

As of now, Shanghai has cumulatively opened 144,000 free trade accounts, handling the equivalent of 142 trillion yuan ($19.5 trillion) in cross-border settlement transactions, with an average annual growth of 61 percent. The total financing that enterprises have obtained through free trade accounts in RMB and foreign currencies totaled 2.8 trillion yuan.

International asset management institutions are increasingly flocking to the Shanghai FTZ. Since 2020, nine of the world’s top ten asset management companies have chosen to establish offices in Shanghai’s Pudong New Area.

“We firmly believe in the potential of the Chinese market and will continue to bring our diverse range of resources to Shanghai, exploring new models for the development of asset management companies in China,” said general manager of Schroder Investment Management (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. Zhang Lan.

By combining the expansion of opening up with institutional reforms, Shanghai has been actively promoting the transformation of government functions, innovative management models, optimized operational mechanisms, and a shift in service approaches.

It continuously works to optimize the market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized business environment. It is reported that Shanghai has delegated over 100 municipal-level administrative approval matters to the government of Pudong New Area.

“Recently, a new Lawson convenience store opened in Pudong, and the procedures went smoothly,” said Jin Ye, deputy director of the business risk control department of Shanghai Lawson, Inc.

“In the past, it would take nearly two months to complete the procedures for opening a store, but now it only takes two to three days,” Jin noted.

After a decade of hard work, the Shanghai FTZ has achieved remarkable success. By the end of 2022, over 84,000 enterprises had been newly registered in FTZ, along with more than 14,000 new foreign-funded projects. The total amount of foreign investment reached $58.6 billion.

In 2022, Pudong New Area’s GDP hit 1.6 trillion yuan, 2.5 times higher than that of 2013. Since its establishment, the Lingang new area of the Shanghai FTZ has experienced an average annual GDP growth of 21.2 percent.

By Wang Hailin, People’s Daily

At the track and field events of the Hangzhou Asian Games, people’s attention was drawn to several “robot dogs” handling discus and javelin back and forth. After completing their assigned tasks of transporting equipment, these four-legged machines would wait obediently at the sidelines for their next commands.

These “robot dogs” are also known as quadruped robots. Shen Hongbin, a Chinese technology officer of the competition department of the Hangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee, said using “robot dogs” to transport sports equipment like discuses and javelins could greatly save manpower and ensure safety.

Intelligence was one of the key concepts of the Hangzhou Asian Games, and the “robot dogs” used in track and field events exactly embodied the vision of a smart Asian Games.

At the Hangzhou Asian Games Village, passengers lined up early at an augmented reality (AR) bus demonstration area. Buses there employed visual perception, laser radar perception, and other technologies to operate, without the intervention of a safety personnel. Those buses could predict pedestrian and vehicle movements, automatically planning and executing avoidance programs.

With the on-board AR function, passengers could not only see real-time scenes outside the bus when observing through the window, but also view virtual scenarios such as the mascots and sports events. This created a magical fusion of virtual reality with real-life scenes.

From debuting a digital torchbearer to introducing electronic ID registration, and to exploring 5.5G technology, the use of digital technologies and technical innovations at the Hangzhou Asian Games has helped break through the limitations of time and space, allowing more people to participate in the sports events virtually and fully enjoy the excitement of sports.