Xi's Shanghai speech signals more opening-up

President Xi Jinping's speech that reaffirmed China's commitment to opening-up sends a positive message to the world, especially when the global economy and market are subject to volatility and uncertainty, analysts said.

Xi reiterated China's commitment to opening its door wider with such measures as lowering tariffs and improving the business environment in a speech on Tuesday at the opening ceremony of the second China International Import Expo in Shanghai.

He said that China will adhere to its fundamental State policy of opening-up, bringing it to an even higher level and that China will place greater importance on imports.

Suthiphand Chirathivat, executive director of the ASEAN Studies Center at Thailand's Chulalongkorn University, said that Xi's emphasis on "an open world economy" sends a positive message to the world, especially with the uncertainties in today's global economy.

He said that China's support for an open global economy can show the world the way forward, not just in trade, but also in investment and technology.

He hoped that China will "bring the opening-up to a new level", adding that China's experience will be conducive for a new model of global economic governance.

Nawazish Mirza, an associate professor of finance at France's La Rochelle Business School, said that Xi's focus on cooperation and building a more open world reiterates China's long-term stance on reducing global trade frictions and promoting multilateralism.

"At a time when economies and markets are subject to volatilities and uncertainties, trade inclusiveness and multilateral cooperation are key to global stability," Mirza said.

He said the fact that Xi mentioned the forthcoming foreign investment law, which is aimed at easing the domestic business environment for foreign companies and hence promoting an open and global approach, was an encouraging move.

Mirza said Beijing's notion of promoting multilateral cooperation both by reducing trade tensions and improving the local business landscape was rational.

"Given the immense size of the consumer market in China, this will be a valuable opportunity for Western businesses that are currently (enduring) sluggish (performances) due to the economic slowdown in mature markets," he said.

Joseph Lim, vice-president of the Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce, who participated in the expo's debut in Shanghai last year, said, "The proactive participation of Xi at the expo showed the world China's determination to open up."

He added that a more open and better-connected world requires companies from all countries to make efforts in reform and innovation in order to raise their global competitiveness.

Lucio Blanco Pitlo III, a research fellow at the Asia-Pacific Pathways to Progress Foundation, a Manila-based foreign policy think tank, said that at a time when the global trade order is under stress, Xi's speech sends a signal to the world that China is continuing on its path of reform and greater opening-up, trade tensions will not make the country look more inward and China will be one of the staunch defenders of globalization.

Pitlo added that China is certainly keen to welcome investors, but it is likewise eager to explore new markets and places to invest.

"China may reasonably expect that the more it opens its market to foreign firms and the more it reduces trade barriers, the same treatment will be afforded to increasingly outgoing Chinese enterprises," he said.

Kris Hartley, an assistant professor at Education University of Hong Kong's Department of Asian and Policy Studies, said that China signaled in many different ways a desire to further open its market, and he expects China to boost confidence among trade partners and signal a commitment to multilateralism and economic globalization.