China market access: Beijing pledges wider opening, import push at global forum

James Okafor | GlobalBeat

Chinese Premier Li Qiang told executives from Apple, Pfizer and BMW that foreign firms will gain wider entry to services, energy and farm markets in 2024.

He spoke at the 2023 China International Import Expo in Shanghai on Nov 5.

The speech came as exports fell for a sixth month and outbound investment hit a 17-year low.

Li said China will expand the negative list for foreign investment, shorten the catalog of restricted sectors and create “greater space” for imports, according to a transcript released by the State Council. He gave no timetable or sector list.

Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen told reporters the government aims to raise goods imports above $2.5 trillion within three years, up from $2.2 trillion in 2022.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, who attended the closed-door meeting, said the company will launch 15 new drugs in China by 2025, the firm announced in a statement. Apple CEO Tim Cook said the firm will raise its clean-energy fund for Chinese suppliers to $500 million, Apple confirmed.

More than 3,400 companies from 154 countries exhibited at the week-long import expo, organisers said. Signed contracts reached $73.6 billion, down 2.6 % from last year, the China International Import Expo Bureau reported.

The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China welcomed Li’s pledge but said implementation “remains the key test,” the chamber wrote in a post on X. The American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai said members need “reciprocity and a level playing field,” the group told reporters.

China recorded a $823 billion goods surplus in 2022, the largest ever for any country, customs data showed. Imports dropped 0.5 % year-to-date through October, while exports fell 5.6 %, the statistics bureau announced.

Foreign direct investment fell $11.8 billion in the third quarter, the first quarterly deficit since records began in 1998, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange reported.

Beijing has targeted “balanced trade” since 2021, when the cabinet published a five-year plan to raise imports of advanced manufacturing components, energy and consumer goods.

The import expo, launched in 2018, is held every November in Shanghai as a showcase for foreign brands seeking Chinese buyers. President Xi Jinping has key-noted every edition except 2022, when he sent a written message.

Background

China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001 with commitments to open finance, telecom and logistics markets. Restrictions in cloud computing, film distribution and biotechnology remain in place, the Ministry of Commerce catalog shows.

The negative list for foreign investment stood at 31 items in 2022, down from 40 in 2021. Sectors still barred include rare-earth mining, compulsory education, internet broadcasting and gene research, the list published in October said.

What’s Next

The State Council said it will publish an updated foreign-investment catalog before Dec 31. A draft will be released for public comment “within weeks,” Vice Minister Wang said.