AT the opening ceremony of the 2023 China International Import Expo (CIIE), Chinese Premier Li Qiang shared an inspiring story of Ali Faiz, a young merchant from Afghanistan, a country long plagued by war and in desperate need of development. Through CIIE, Ali brought to China handmade wool carpets from his hometown, each skilfully crafted by the hard-working locals. Every carpet sold was providing for families living in the mountainous terrains of Afghanistan, and giving them hope for a better life.

The CIIE, held in China’s Shanghai annually, is a major move of the country to open up wider to the world and share development opportunities with partners globally. Unlike other long-existing exhibitions that focus on export, the CIIE is about boosting import and helping foreign firms showcase and sell their products and services in China. It has been held six times since its launch in 2018.

Given the size of China’s market, the CIIE has multiple roles to play: scaling up international procurement, promoting investment, facilitating people-to-people interactions and advancing global cooperation. It has since contributed significantly to both China’s endeavour to foster a new development paradigm and to the growth of the world economy.

At the recently concluded third plenum of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the importance of improving the institutions and mechanisms of high-standard opening-up was once again emphasised. A more open China is going to deliver greater benefits to the rest of the world.

Home to a huge population, an expanding middle-class and well-sustained economic growth, China has the ideal consumer market for quality products from around the world. Adding to that is the country’s world-class manufacturing ecosystem that is constantly fortified by increasing input in innovation and R&D. The country once known for “Made in China” goods is now taking on new features such as “Created in China” and “”Designed by China.” To trade with China is to trade for the future.

The CPC also adopted a resolution at its recent central committee plenum on reform measures designed to advance Chinese modernisation, including systematic steps to build a unified national market. By removing the inconveniences that foreign firms might encounter entering China, this will help them do better as they explore the enormous market of the country. That also promises more opportunities for global growth. China has done a lot to liberalise and facilitate trade over the years.

The government has been conducting reforms to facilitate trade and investment in the country’s Pilot Free Trade Zones. Its customs authorities and other related departments have launched 27 specified measures to improve port services. Its tax administration has been moving to strengthen interdepartmental information sharing, streamline tax refund declaration, and speed up tax refunds for exports. And the list goes on. It is thanks to these measures that in the first half of 2024, China’s trade in goods hit RMB21.17 trillion yuan, up by 6.1 percent year on year.

China is working hard to bring in more investment, as is reflected in its 24-point measure to enhance the country’s appeal for foreign investors. The resolution of the recent CPC plenum also laid out a plan to reform the foreign investment management system, and incorporates measures including expanding the catalog of encouraged industries for foreign investment, removing all market access restrictions in the manufacturing sector, ensuring national treatment, and making life on the mainland more convenient for people who come from outside the area. Such efforts will help China foster a world-class business environment so that more foreign enterprises will share in the dividends of China’s development.

In the first half of 2024, foreign investment in China amounted to nearly RMB500 billion yuan, and 26, 870 foreign-invested enterprises were established here, 14.2 percent more than the previous year. This speaks volumes about foreign investors’ enthusiasm toward the Chinese market and their confidence in its future prospects.

Despite the headwinds of protectionism and decoupling faced by the world economy, the trend of economic globalisation is irreversible. As an engine for global growth, China will leverage its market size and opening-up measures to contribute new impetus to the world economy.

China: Making It Safe for Everyone

WE live in a world where public safety is a growing concern of many, particularly those whose everyday life is being disrupted by lack of order and street violence. That gives context to how foreign travelers are impressed by the late-night street view in China, where people walk around freely with convenient stores and public facilities readily at their service.

Some foreign bloggers expected outings at night to be adventure-like, only to find that it’s absolutely safe in China to go out at night without worries, even for ladies travelling alone. It is, indeed, a country safe for everyone.

Public safety matters both to people’s well-being and a dynamic economy, and is the hallmark of a robust, orderly society. It is thus an important part of the Peaceful China Initiative. China is widely known as one of the safest countries in the world. Its overall crime rate, homicide rate, and gun-crime rate are among the world’s lowest. A 2023 research report showed that 92.8 percent of foreign nationals were satisfied with the overall public safety and security situation in China.

That is no easy feat, and it could not have been achieved without the Chinese government’s hard efforts. Ten years ago, Chinese President Xi Jinping outlined a holistic approach to national security, underscoring that national security is for the benefit of the people and supported by the people. At the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee held in July 2024, the country set a number of important goals. One is to advance the Peaceful China Initiative to a higher level and strengthen the national security system. The foundation is already strong. The Chinese government has been working intensively in recent years to fight crimes and enhance people’s sense of safety, particularly those involving gang mobs, pornography, gambling, narcotics, food safety, medicine, the environment, theft, robbery and fraud, and workplace safety protocols are enforced with real earnest. These efforts have greatly reduced the incidences of crime and public safety violations.

Meanwhile, China is working to build smart cities and applying big data and intelligent systems to identify potential dangers and improve public services and governance, buttressing public safety with technology.

In addition to thrust from the government, China’s community-level governance has also played an important part in making the country safe and secure. In the early 1960s, a small town in China’s Zhejiang Province developed a public security approach, which was later known as the Fengqiao model after the name of their town. The main idea was to put community residents, not the government, in the driver’s seat in proposing solutions; localise problem-solving; and realise better security without overuse of penalties.

China’s leader Mao Zedong promoted the application of the Fengqiao model and spread it across the country. In the new eta, the Fengqiao model has been further refined and delivered on its goal of enabling the public to collaborate on solutions and preventing tensions through early intervention.

To date, more than 583, 000 community-level institutions known as comprehensive governance centers have been established in townships and urban subdistricts throughout the country, and all communities are zoned into small units called “grids'” for more tailored, sophisticated management. Senior citizens are actively signing up for volunteer services and working in dispute mediation teams. Many young joggers are taking on another role as they run in groups at night and also become “eyes on the street”. They call it “jogging patrol.” With members of the public actively involved, a social governance approach based on collaboration, participation and benefit sharing has taken hold.

Our world is fast changing, Societies across the world are seeing more threats and challenges to their peace and quiet. China’s practice of making it more peaceful for everyone under the Peaceful China Initiative can be a useful reference.