CBN丨CIIE offers key platform to open up, drive growth

Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.Coming up on today’s programChinese Premier gave keynote speech at the 7th CIIE opening ceremony, pledging further opening up;Shenzhen drafted an action plan to push for high-quality development of the low-altitude economy.Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Tuesday pledged to further expand opening up and turn China's vast market into great opportunities for the world.Li made the remarks during his keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the seventh China International Import Expo (CIIE) and the Hongqiao International Economic Forum in Shanghai.Hosting the CIIE is an important measure for China to expand opening up and cooperation, representing China's solemn commitment to the world, Li said.China will further expand institutional opening up and actively align with high-standard international economic and trade rules, Li said, pledging efforts to implement the strategy for upgrading pilot free trade zones.Li said the country is willing to open up its enormous market further, including implementing the unilateral opening up and offering zero-tariff treatment for all tariff lines from the least developed countries, and effectively turn the huge market into great global opportunities.China has continued to walk the talk in expanding opening up, said Li, adding that China's overall tariff level has been reduced to 7.3 percent, overshooting its target of 9.8 percent.China has achieved remarkable progress in its opening-up path, according to the latest World Openness Report 2024 released on Tuesday at the 7th Hongqiao International Economic Forum.Between 2008 and 2023, China's openness index rose to 0.7596 from 0.6789, up by 11.9 percent, which was among the biggest advancements globally.China firmly safeguards the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization at its core and supports developing countries in sharing more benefits of globalization, Li added.Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director-general of the WTO, said in a video speech at the opening ceremony that as geopolitical tensions intensify and signs of fragmentation emerge in global trade and investment, it is crucial for political and business leaders around the world to collaborate on preserving and reforming the multilateral trading system.Meanwhile, the premier stressed the fundamentals of the Chinese economy remain sound, and the Chinese government is capable of promoting steady economic growth and contributing more to global development and the welfare of humanity.Greater Bay Area, Greater futureOfficials vowed on Tuesday to deepen collaboration between Shanghai and Hong Kong to further unleash the two economic engines' potential in the nation's further opening-up. Addressing the 2024 Hong Kong Investment Promotion Conference-Shanghai Forum during the CIIE, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee stressed that the SAR possesses the capacity to serve as an investment and financing hub for the development of Shanghai and related mainland businesses, welcoming more enterprises to leverage Hong Kong for global expansion. He said Hong Kong is home to over 1,400 mainland companies listed on the city's stock exchange, with close to 200 originating from Shanghai alone — boasting a total market value exceeding HK$2 trillion. Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng stated that Shanghai will further encourage its enterprises to invest in Hong Kong, while particularly strengthening cooperation between the two cities in emerging industries such as artificial intelligence and biomedicine.  Shenzhen on Tuesday released a draft action plan for supporting the high-quality development of the low-altitude economy, seeking public feedback. The draft listed direct financial support for specific low-altitude enterprises that relates to the research, development, and manufacturing of eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft) and large to medium-sized unmanned aerial vehicles of up to 20 million yuan.Switching gears to financial newsChina’s top legislature is expected to approve an increase in local government debt limits this week to enable them to swap out their hidden debts, thereby helping mitigate fiscal risk and enhance financial transparency. The Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress began reviewing the proposal during the session that opened yesterday. A decision is expected to be announced when the session concludes on Nov. 8.The Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday that it would issue up to $2 billion of US dollar-denominated sovereign bonds in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, during the week starting Nov.11, following approval by the State Council. The Nasdaq-style sci-tech innovation board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, known as the STAR market, on Tuesday marked its sixth anniversary of announcement. As of Tuesday, the market had attracted the listing of 577 enterprises in high-tech and strategic emerging industries, which had raised over 1 trillion yuan since its inception.UnionPay International, a subsidiary of China UnionPay, announced on Wednesday that UnionPay cards issued overseas now fully support binding with Alipay and WeChat Pay. Starting Wednesday, overseas visitors to China can download the Alipay or WeChat App, link their UnionPay cards issued abroad, and enjoy seamless QR code payments with zero transaction fees within China for a limited promotional period.Wrapping up with a quick look at the stock marketChinese stocks fell on Wednesday with the benchmark Shanghai Composite down 0.1 percent the Shenzhen Component slid 0.35 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index tumbled 2.2 percent and the TECH index dropped 2.5 percent.