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In the face of a storm of trade-related complaints, China is organizing a "business-friendly" import trade show hosted by President Xi Jinping to reposition itself as a welcoming market and a positive global force.
More than 3,000 companies from 130 countries selling everything from Egyptian dates to industrial machinery are participating in the China International Import Expo, which opens on Monday in Shanghai's commercial center. His VIP guest list includes prime ministers and other Russian, Pakistani and Vietnamese leaders.
The United States, engaged in a tariff war with Beijing, does not intend to send a high-level envoy.
Xi's government underlines the promise made by China's growing consumer market to help defuse complaints. Beijing is abusing the global trading system by giving up the promise of opening up its industries.
"That said, listen, we're not a global parasite that creates huge deficits, we buy products," said Kerry Brown, a Chinese policy specialist at King's College London.
The event is also part of efforts to develop a China-centric trade network and increase its influence in a global system dominated by Western countries.
President Donald Trump and his "American policies first" that threaten to create barriers to importing into the world's largest consumer market are looming in the background.
Exporters, particularly developing countries, want closer relations with China to help them "isolate themselves from what is happening with Trump and the United States," said Gareth Leather of Capital Economics.
China has cut tariffs and announced other measures this year to boost imports, which rose 15.9 percent in 2017 to reach $ 1.8 trillion. But none of them respond to US complaints about its technology policy that led Trump to impose tariff penalties of up to 25 percent on Chinese imports of $ 250 billion. Beijing responded with tariff increases of $ 110 billion in US imports.
Chinese leaders have rejected the pressure to cancel projects such as "Made in China 2025", which calls for the creation by the state of world champions of robotics and other areas, ambitions that, according to some US officials will undermine US industrial leadership.
For the economy to continue to grow, China needs to expand its consumer market, which requires more imports.
But foreign companies said regulators were still trying to push them away from promising industries and that they were facing the pressure of technology.
The Shanghai Expo "will be of little significance to the United States and other companies unless significant and measurable changes are made to China's business practices," said Kenneth Jarrett, Speaker of the House of Representatives. American trade in Shanghai, in an email.
Some companies may experience a brief increase in sales, "but its long-term impact will be defined by China's willingness to end many of its unfair business practices," said Jarrett.
Europe, Japan and other trading partners are wary of Trump's tactics, but echo US complaints.
According to them, Beijing is unduly hindering access to finance, logistics and other service industries. European leaders are frustrated that Beijing is banning the acquisition of most assets abroad, while its own companies are facing a wave of global buying.
In a Chinese economic magazine, the French and German ambassadors in Beijing called for changes, notably to put an end to the requirements for foreign companies to operate in joint ventures with state-owned partners. They called for a rewrite of rules that prevent companies from taking advantage of technology and protecting it.
"We encourage China to solve these problems through concrete and systematic measures that go beyond tariff adjustments," French ambassadors Jean-Maurice Ripert and German Clemens von Goetze said in Caixin magazine.
China is already the largest trading partner of all of its Asian neighbors, although much of the iron ore, industrial components and other purchased goods are turned into smartphones, televisions and other products for export.
The tariff cuts announced last year were aimed at giving Chinese consumers better access to foreign products. Chinese leaders point out that these include anticancer drugs and other medical products. But many are specialized products such as high-end strollers, avocados and mineral water that do not compete with Chinese suppliers.
The Shanghai Expo also gives Beijing the opportunity to revive its blazon following complaints about its "Belt and Road" initiative to expand trade by building ports, railways and other infrastructure in a vast area. arc of 65 countries from the South Pacific to Asia, passing through Asia.
Governments, including Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand, have abandoned or reduced their projects due to high costs or complaints, as there is little work for local businesses. Sri Lanka, Kenya and other countries are struggling to repay their Chinese loans.
"It has become too associated with debt and China to get what it wants," Brown said. "They are trying to spread the message that China is open to business."
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Online:
International Expo on the Import of China: https://www.ciie.org/zbh/en/
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