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US-CHINA-TRADE-DISPUTE
China battles ‘unfair’ trader image with import expo
SHANGHAI, Oct 31, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – President Xi Jinping opens a huge
Shanghai import fair next week at which armies of Chinese companies will shop
for billions of dollars in foreign goods as China seeks to counter charges
that its markets aren’t open.
But not everyone is buying it.
China’s trade war adversary, the United States, is pointedly snubbing a
gathering that will draw several overseas leaders, and foreign business
figures privately dismiss it as a diversion that allows China to delay
lifting barriers that protect its markets.
It remains unknown whether Xi will use the China International Import Expo
to announce new reforms, but Beijing insists the event already shows its
willingness to reduce the surpluses it enjoys with trading partners.
Xi has called it “no ordinary exhibition” and a sign of China “actively
opening up markets”.
But the November 5-10 expo also sends another signal: as China pivots from
an exports-based economy toward one based on the consumer buying power of its
1.4 billion people, other countries will need to play ball if they want a
piece of that action.
“It’s China saying ‘we are an increasingly important import market, and
you’re welcome to deal with us,” said Gary Liu, president of the China
Financial Reform Institute.
“But if you want to start a trade war, then we can just trade with other
countries.”
– Aggressive lobbying –
Organisers say more than 3,000 foreign companies from 130 countries will
come, including General Motors, Ford, Microsoft, Samsung, Walmart, Tesla, and
Foxconn.
Even tech giants Facebook and Google are signed up. Facebook is blocked in
China, while Google pulled out years ago over censorship and cyber-attacks,
but both are seen as eyeing new ways into the giant market.
With the all-powerful Xi personally touting the expo, foreign business and
diplomatic sources told AFP that China has aggressively recruited attendees,
with some saying they are participating largely to please their hosts.
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US-CHINA-TRADE-DISPUTE 2 LAST SHANGHAI
Microsoft founder Bill Gates will join a business forum, but the touchy
optics of attending a China import expo amid trade tension means few big-name
American CEOs are confirmed, and most major companies contacted by AFP
declined detailed comment.
There are no plans for a “high-level” American government presence, the US
embassy said.
An embassy spokesman instead called for concrete Chinese steps to “level
the playing field” for US companies.
Foreign government and business groups have long complained over
preferential treatment for Chinese firms, market access barriers, restrictive
red tape, inadequate intellectual property protection and forced technology
transfer — issues US President Donald Trump has seized upon.
– Buying alliances –
“China needs to make the necessary reforms to end its unfair trade
practices that are harming the world economy,” the embassy spokesman told
AFP.
That prompted a retort from China’s foreign ministry, which said that
snubbing the expo while asking for market access was “extremely contradictory
and hard to understand”.
China, meanwhile, has corralled thousands of businesses nationwide into
“buying alliances”, with organisers and state media playing up expectations
for headline-grabbing deals.
Shanghai’s “buying alliance” alone will include more than 18,000 companies
armed with 12 billion yuan ($1.7 billion) of “intended” spending, an official
with the city’s alliance told AFP.
Jacob Parker, who heads the Beijing office of the US-China Business
Council — which represents US companies doing business in China — said the
expo could help some companies improve their networking and create more
business.
“There is nothing negative about the expo,” Parker said.
But from the standpoint of reducing trade barriers, “I don’t know if it’s
meant to be a means to that end”, he added.
“We would certainly appreciate any announcements (about market reforms)
next week, but when I talk to our members, the sense is that we have heard a
lot of promises to date, but we need to see measurable progress on that
front.”
BSS/AFP/HR/0950