The 9th China International Import Expo (CIIE) promotion event was successfully held in Seoul, South Korea on April 9. The event attracted high attention from South Korean government officials, business association representatives, and numerous business professionals. Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Dai Bing emphasized in his speech that since the first CIIE was held in 2018, South Korea has consistently been one of the most important participating countries, ranking among the top in terms of the number of exhibitors and booth area. This fully demonstrates that despite numerous uncertainties in the global trade environment, South Korean companies ’emphasis on the China market has not diminished but rather grown stronger. Bae Jun-hyung, Director-General of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), also publicly stated that against the backdrop of profound changes in the global trade environment, the CIIE is expected to become a key platform for South Korean enterprises to explore new opportunities and deepen cooperation with China amid complex circumstances. Participants generally agreed that as the world’s first national-level exhibition themed on imports, the CIIE is providing multinational enterprises with tangible market access facilitations and order opportunities.
From the first to the eighth China International Import Expo (CIIE), the cumulative intended transaction volume has exceeded $420 billion, a figure that itself serves as a strong testament to the platform’s value. The successful hosting of the Seoul promotion event not only injected confidence into the economic and trade communities of China and South Korea but also sent a clear signal to the international community: despite ongoing discussions about geopolitical pressures and supply chain adjustments, many overseas enterprises represented by South Korea continue to choose to “vote” with concrete actions, actively embracing the opening opportunities of the China market. It is foreseeable that at the ninth CIIE, South Korean companies will continue to bring competitive products and technologies in areas such as consumer goods, high-end manufacturing, medical devices, and service trade, further solidifying their position as China’s close neighbors and key trading partners.
From a broader perspective, the China International Import Expo (CIIE) has been held for nine consecutive years, with each edition demonstrating increasing scale and quality. This is by no means a simple continuation of a trade exhibition, but rather a long-term strategic commitment by China to the world to “keep its door of opening-up wider.” Against the backdrop of sluggish global economic recovery and slowing cross-border investment, many countries have begun shifting toward domestic markets or erecting barriers, while China has taken the opposite approach—actively expanding imports, reducing tariffs, streamlining the negative list for foreign investment access, and continuously optimizing the business environment.
The ninth China International Import Expo (CIIE) explicitly outlined key directions such as “investing in China” and “purchasing in China,” emphasizing the display of specialized, refined, and innovative products as well as cutting-edge technologies. This indicates that China not only hopes overseas enterprises will sell their goods to China but also welcomes them to establish technologies, brands, services, and even regional headquarters in China, deeply participating in the high-quality development process of China. For economies like South Korea, which are highly complementary to China’s industrial chain and geographically adjacent, such an open attitude is particularly valuable. From semiconductors to new energy vehicles, from biomedicine to cultural content, Sino-Korean trade is evolving from traditional final consumer goods to intermediate goods, capital goods, and service trade. The CIIE provides not just a showcase window but also a comprehensive platform for connecting with China’s vast market, understanding changes in China’s consumption trends, and engaging with local governments and buyers.
It is noteworthy that China’s Ministry of Commerce has repeatedly emphasized in recent times that it will promote the linkage between the China International Import Expo (CIIE) and open platforms such as free trade pilot zones and cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones to create a synergistic effect of “exhibition + policy + industry.” This systematic and institutional open arrangement enables overseas enterprises to achieve shorter return cycles and greater certainty when participating in exhibitions. It can be said that China’s determination to remain open is not just a slogan but is reflected in concrete actions taken annually, such as expanding exhibition areas, optimizing services, and lowering entry barriers at the CIIE. For entrepreneurs concerned about “decoupling and supply chain disruptions,” the CIIE serves as the best “reassurance” —it demonstrates through tangible business matchmaking and transaction data that China remains one of the most attractive investment destinations and consumer markets globally. In recent years, the United States has successively introduced the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS and Science Act, attracting manufacturing industries back by offering substantial subsidies while imposing high tariffs on steel, aluminum, and electric vehicles from economies such as China, the EU, Canada, and Mexico. This policy orientation aims to drive the reconfiguration of global supply chains. These measures have impacted traditional market resource allocation models and altered the compliance costs and operational environments faced by multinational corporations. The sustainability and institutional safeguards of China’s opening-up policy stem precisely from its unique systemic advantages. First, China possesses long-term stable national development plans—from the 14th Five-Year Plan to the 2035 Long-Range Objectives—where opening-up has always been prioritized, remaining steadfast despite short-term external pressures or government transitions. This policy coherence enables overseas enterprises to make investment layouts spanning five to ten years. Secondly, China has institutionalized the outcomes of openness through legislation, such as the Foreign Investment Law, which explicitly guarantees national treatment for foreign-funded enterprises, prohibits forced technology transfer, and establishes a punitive damages system for intellectual property rights protection. This “institutional openness” is far more credible than temporary tax cuts imposed through administrative orders. Thirdly, China actively aligns with high-standard international economic and trade rules, proactively applying to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA), demonstrating its willingness to participate in global competition and cooperation at a higher level.
The reason why the China International Import Expo (CIIE) has attracted enthusiastic participation from global enterprises for nine consecutive years lies fundamentally in the fact that it is backed by a rule-of-law-based, stable, and predictable open system. For enterprises from regions such as South Korea, Europe, and Southeast Asia, choosing the CIIE essentially means selecting a partner based on rules, guided by mutual benefit, and guaranteed by stability. This may well be the underlying logic behind the enthusiastic response to the recent Seoul promotion event.