In the golden autumn season, fruits ripen and fill the air with fresh fragrance. On November 5, the seventh China International Import Expo (CIIE) will be launched in Shanghai, a Chinese city that is more than 10,000 kilometres away from Kingston. Championing the theme of ‘New Era, Shared Future’, this year’s CIIE will once again bring brilliant businesses, featured products and cutting-edge technologies around the world to China, where China and the rest of the world will enhance mutual learning, share development opportunities, and yield shared benefits and win-win outcomes.

The previous six CIIEs delivered remarkable outcomes. Hosting the CIIE is an important decision made by China to pursue high-standard opening-up, and is China’s major initiative to still widen market access to the rest of the world.

During the past six years, the CIIE was leveraged as a platform to promote international procurement, investment, people-to-people and cultural exchange, opening-up and cooperation. It has become a showcase of China’s new development paradigm, a platform for high-standard opening-up, and a public good for the whole of the world. Countries and businesses of the world are enthusiastic about keeping the appointment in the East.

Since its inception in 2018, this expo has attracted participants from 181 countries and regions along with about 16,000 businesses, achieving combined intended turnovers of more than US$420 billion. Nearly 2,500 products, technologies and services have debuted at past editions of the event. An open, innovative and inclusive CIIE has highlighted to the rest of world that China is determined to pursue greater opening-up and share more opportunities in good faith.

The seventh CIIE will be hosted on a scale unlike any previous ones and with much more to expect. The total exhibition area will exceed 420,000 square metres and 152 countries, regions and international organisations are expected to participate in the Country Exhibition and Business Exhibition.

As an important part of the CIIE, the Hongqiao International Economic Forum will include a main forum and 19 sub-forums. A record-breaking 297 Fortune Global 500 companies and industry leaders will be present. This year’s CIIE brings into focus new productive forces and will further advance a new type of economic globalisation that is open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial to all with win-win outcomes.

Jamaica is an important economic and trade partner for China in the Caribbean. Since China and Jamaica became diplomatically engaged, under our leaders’ strategic guidance, our countries have deepened their friendship and mutual trust, and reaped fruitful outcomes in trade and economic cooperation.

According to statistics provided by China’s General Administration of Customs, in 2023, our countries’ bilateral trade rose to US$1.28 billion, up by 25.8 per cent year over year. From January to September this year, our countries’ trade amounted to US$780 million. The CIIE builds a bridge for our countries to promote trade and cement people’s bond.

Jamaica has become a regular guest at the CIIE. The Blue Mountain coffee, rum and lobsters made their striking appearances at the previous CIIEs, and an increasing number of Jamaican businesses have made their way into the CIIE to get intimately engaged with Chinese consumers and global buyers. Coming to the CIIE and China is synonymous with going global and embracing the future. At the CIIE, China will continue to showcase Jamaica’s high-quality featured products and unlock more business opportunities.

At the moment, China is endeavouring to transform itself into a stronger country and rejuvenate the Chinese nation on all fronts by pursuing Chinese modernisation. At the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, a multi-pronged master plan has been formulated to deepen reforms across the board and advance Chinese modernisation. Rather than pursuing its own modernisation, China will continue to pursue high-standard opening-up for high-quality development, with opening-up as the driving force for development, synergies and win-win outcomes.

China stands ready to work with Jamaica and all other countries to achieve world modernisation that features peaceful development, mutually beneficial cooperation and shared prosperity, and contribute to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

Chen Daojiang is China’s ambassador to Jamaica

Chen Daojiang