Import expo a milestone for China's opening-up

The expos and fairs China has held at different times in history serve as milestones in its development journey.

The first export fair held in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, in 1957, for instance, reflected China's pressing demand for foreign trade. Now known as the China Import and Export Fair, or Canton Fair, it is held every year in spring and autumn as a channel for the going out of made-in-China.

Now Shanghai is the venue for the first China International Import Expo, which opened on Monday. Reflecting that consumption has overtaken exports and investment as a growth driver - contributing over 60 percent of the economic growth in China - it is a channel for the world to come into China.