Chinese President Xi Pledges Lower Tariffs, Increased Imports in Trade Fair Speech

China will take more measures to lower tariffs and diversify imports “from around the world,” President Xi Jinping said during a speech to open China’s international trade fair on Nov. 5. Xi said the country plans to continue expanding market access to foreign companies and is focusing on increasing its imports. “China will give greater importance to import. We will continue to lower tariffs and institutional transaction costs, develop demonstration zones to promote import trade by creative means, and import more high-quality goods and services from around the world,” Xi said.

The comments were part of a broad, trade-focused speech, in which Xi pledged that China is committed to free trade and increased cooperation with other countries. “The Chinese market is so big, everyone is welcome to take a look,” Xi said, according to an unofficial translation of a press release from China’s Commerce Ministry.

He also called for the multilateral trading system to “work together to strengthen intellectual property protection,” a key issue at the center of U.S.-Chinese trade negotiations, and said the country supports World Trade Organization reform. “China is willing to negotiate high-standard free trade agreements with more countries,” Xi said.

China will also continue to expand its free-trade zones and “accelerate the construction” of a free trade port in Hainan, Xi said, which is expected to be finished in 2020. China recently unveiled plans for a Shanghai Free-Trade Zone (see 1908070026).