China Opens Its Arms to the World

The first China International Import Expo （CIIE） was held in Shanghai from November 5 to 10， 2018. At the opening ceremony， Chinese President Xi Jinping conveyed Chinas determination to further open up to the rest of the world，“China will firmly follow a winwin strategy of opening-up， adopt high-quality policies to advance trade and investment liberalization and facilitation， and move towards a nationwide opening-up that coordinates the coastal and inland areas and connects the eastern and western regions.” This strategic position， together with a series of pragmatic measures， demonstrates Chinas commitment to opening up its market wider towards common development and prosperity.

The past 40 years have given ample evidence that Chinas resolute commitment to reform and opening up is the main reason that it has become the second largest economy in the world. Apart from rapid economic growth， the indicators of employment rates， prices of commodities， balance of payments， and corporate profits have remained within a reasonable range. Investment and trade cooperation with foreign countries has also gone smoothly， and many cooperation platforms have been built. By hosting the CIIE， it proves once again that the momentum of Chinas opening-up has never stopped or even weakened.

China to Further Optimize Business Environment for Investors

In a press briefing of the Information Office of the State Council， heads of departments introduced 26 measures for further optimizing the business environment across China.

According to Vice Secretary General Zhou Xiaofei of the National Development and Reform Commission， China plans to speed up the building of a business environment evaluation system with Chinese characteristics.

According to Tang Wenhong， head of the Department of Foreign Investment Administration of the Ministry of Commerce， in order to facilitate foreign investors to do business in China， and raise Chinas opening-up to a new level， the Ministry of Commerce will eliminate all restrictions on foreign investment in areas other than those on the Negative List for the Access of Foreign Investment by March 31， 2019.

Besides this， special inspection will be made to determine whether the government procurement， capital subsidy， qualification licenses， and other aspects of foreign enterprises are enjoying fair treatment. At the same time， the catalogues of Chinese industries for foreign investment will be revised to include more industries， and a mechanism to deal with complaints of foreigninvested enterprises will be completed by the end of this year. By the end of next year， the revision of laws， regulations， and normative documents inconsistent with the current opening-up policy will also be finished.

Tenth Anniversary of the Singles Day Shopping Spree In recent years， consumption growth in second-tier cities from central and western China and counties has been significant. Quality and personalized goods such as digital products， cosmetics， and health care products have occupied a higher proportion in recent years.

At the same time， as many wellknown brands continue to tap the potential of the rural market with tailor-made products to meet local demands， rural consumers are now given more choices.

After 10 Singles Day shopping carnivals， Chinese consumers have become more rational in spending money. Instead of scrambling for bargains， more consumers tend to make online orders based on their real needs. And for most people， higher quality beats lower prices.

At the same time， the younger generations， including those born in the 1990s and the 2000s， have become the new shopaholics. They have grown up in the Internet era， know fashion brands and are familiar with various online shopping platforms both at home and abroad.

With the advent of the era of the digital economy， in the future， personalized products and services will be delivered in a more accurate and timely manner. Consumers will pay more attention to product quality， the shopping experience as well as other diversified demands.

Policies to Support Private Enterprises

Since October this year， private enterprises have welcomed a “golden autumn” – ministries and commissions under the State Council issued a raft of policies to relieve their financing difficulties.

The Peoples Bank of China， the central bank， announced in late October that it would help establish support tools for private enterprise to raise funds in the form of bonds. With the tools， the central bank will relend part of the initial capital， which will be operated by special institutions in accordance with the market laws. With credit risk mitigation and credit warrant and enhancement， the capital will be given to those private enterprises that are operating normally but have encountered provisional liquidity difficulties.

Chang Depeng， spokesperson of the China Securities Regulatory Commission（CSRC）， told media on October 26 that the CSRC was in favor of eligible agencies issuing special corporate bonds to raise money for private companies. In the end， it will also simplify the related procedures of issuing those bonds.

Minister of Finance Liu Kun told the media on November 7 that apart from current policies of cutting taxes and administrative fees， further measures are underway to help enterprises operate more smoothly.