The China International Import Expo (CIIE) is an important indicator of China's shift from an export-oriented country into an import-oriented one, according to a Chinese scholar via the WeChat public account of the Beijing-based think tank Liaowang Institute on Monday.

In the past 40 years, China has changed from a developing country lingering on the fringe of the global trade value chain into a powerful participant and a builder of global trade system. It has also basically turned from an export-oriented country into an import-oriented one, said Zhang Yugui, dean of the School of Economics and Finance, Shanghai International Studies University.

He believed this changed role was one of the reasons China decided to host the CIIE as the world's first import-themed national-level exhibition.

The CIIE provides a precious channel for foreign businesses to reach the Chinese market. It shows China's adherence to free trade and trade facilitation, and shows China's attempts to share benefits with its trade partners, Zhang said.

In the long run, other countries would enjoy enormous benefits brought about by China's economic development, he believed.

In 2017, China's GDP reached US$12 trillion, making the country one of only two economies in the world with a GDP greater than US$10 trillion. The country's foreign trade also surpassed US$4.1 trillion last year.

On Nov. 1, China slashed most-favored-nation tariffs on a total of 1,585 taxable items. Theaverage tariff rate of these items was reduced from 10.5 percent to 7.8 percent.

The Chinese authorities also expect to see the country importing goods worth a total US$24 trillion over the next 15 years.

All these factors show that China is determined to open wider to the world, Zhang said.

The CIIE is being held in Shanghai between Nov. 5 and 10.

More than 3,000 companies from over 130 countries and regionsare participating in the event, bringing with them more than 5,000 new products and technologies.

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