Chinese president Xi Jinping said at the BRICS Business Forum in Johannesburg that he was committed to promoting free trade and the liberalization of the economy of China. This is in line with the plans of the State Council, through the president, to promote the Belt and Road Initiative.
In line with this, Xinhua Net said Shanghai will host the first-ever China International Import Expo in November. The Chinese market will be on full display to the world, including prospective companies and technologies open for investments and accepting trade. About 130 countries, 2,800 companies, and countless regions have expressed interest in the expo.
This is also backstopped by 150,000 buyers from outside and inside China. It might include China's new partners in the African countries, a big reason why Xi Jinping is currently touring the peninsula. This, along with the Belt and Road Initiative, is what China seeks to offer to the world.
The Chinese president also issued a warning to the US and the Trump administration. China and the US were locked in a trade dispute, where the US is imposing heavy taxes on the importation of Chinese goods. Xi Jinping said that if America continued its bullying, China will have to eventually overtake the US' former role as a champion of free and open trade.
It will be interesting to see how China does that, but President Xi Jinping said that it will take China and the US coming to terms to accomplish that goal. The Guardian reports the Chinese president further reiterated that he had no prior problems with the former administration and that China would keep its trade borders open, in contrast to the protectionist stance the US had been taking recently.
China's view of its Belt and Road Initiative is that it will eventually help a lot of countries. The United Nations is pushing its 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Initiative is China's answer to helping the United Nations reach that goal. A lot of countries also stand to benefit from the Initiative, the president further reiterated.
The Chinese president further stressed that while the Initiative's initial goals may have been to connect the Chinese economy to the world, it ultimately is a policy directed towards connection world economies with each other.
