(CIIE) Interview: CIIE boosts access to vast Chinese market for Global South enterprises, says Ethiopian expert

An Ethiopian woman makes traditional coffee in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Feb.13, 2023. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

"Through the China International Import Expo, China is offering the rest of the world the opportunity to produce in their own country and export to China."

ADDIS ABABA, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- The China International Import Expo (CIIE) offers win-win opportunities for exporters from around the world to access the vast Chinese market, holding particular importance to enterprises from the Global South, said an Ethiopian expert.

The sixth edition of the CIIE, taking place on Nov. 5-10 in Shanghai amid global market disruptions after the COVID-19 pandemic and mounting uncertainties, would be a steadfast anchor for global economic stability, Costantinos Berhutesfa Costantinos, professor of public policy at the Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia, said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

"China is now trying to develop a very open access to its markets." With Chinese consumption increasing, the CIIE provides opportunities for businesses, particularly those from the Global South, to export their products to China, the expert said.

As the world's first import-themed national-level expo, the CIIE has built international platforms for overseas procurement, investment promotion, people-to-people exchanges, and open cooperation, and has sparked great enthusiasm from all parties.

People pose for photos at the booth of South Africa at the 6th China International Import Expo (CIIE) in east China's Shanghai, Nov. 6, 2023. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

China provides "equal opportunities" to enterprises from the Global South, and the CIIE in particular serves as a "connecting bridge" for them to explore the Chinese market and the expanding Chinese economy, Costantinos said.

"Businesses from the African continent, Latin America, and South Asia, will be able to understand and learn from this expo the importance of how they can export to China, what materials are required by Chinese companies, and agreements will also be signed during this opportunity where Chinese companies and the rest of the world would sign agreements for importing products into China," he said.

Costantinos said through the CIIE, China hopes to share the economic dividend it has garnered as a result of its "phenomenal" economic growth with the rest of the world, with particular emphasis on the developing world.

"The China International Import Expo, along with other efforts that China is making globally, will be an important pedestal for a kind of new trade alignment" in the "post-COVID-19 and conflict-ridden globe," he said.

Costantinos emphasized that China is engaged in win-win cooperation with the rest of the world.

"Through the China International Import Expo, China is offering the rest of the world the opportunity to produce in their own country and export to China," Costantinos said.