China's 9th CIIE Opens as Ding Xuexiang Responds to Trade Imbalance Criticism
nashnova research
China's ninth Import Expo opened in Shanghai on Nov 5 with 4,142 firms from 162 countries — U.S. companies took the largest exhibition space. Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang directly blamed Western export controls for limiting what China can buy, but with the country's trade surplus on track to top last year's $1.2 trillion record, the expo's real impact remains in doubt.
What is this year's Import Expo about?
The expo runs Nov 5–10, drawing 4,142 companies from 162 countries, regions, and international organizations.
U.S. firms hold the largest exhibition area — a notable signal given ongoing Sino-U.S. trade friction.
Xi Jinping launched the CIIE in 2018 to demonstrate China's commitment to opening its market and to counter criticism of its widening trade surplus.
How did Ding Xuexiang respond to the "China doesn't buy enough" charge?
He cited three data points: China is a top export destination for about 80 countries; Chinese imports grew 22% in the year to September, outpacing Europe and the U.S.; and China's overall tariff rate has fallen to 7.3%, near developed-economy levels.
This means → Beijing's official narrative is: we want to buy — you won't let us.
Ding singled out high-tech export controls: "There are many products we want to import but cannot buy. Normal trade in high-tech goods has been disrupted and restricted, causing enormous losses for all sides."
Do the numbers support that narrative?
In the first ten months of the year, Chinese exports rose 6.7% year-on-year while imports grew only 3.7% — the gap nearly doubled.
In plain terms = China is selling more and more abroad, but its purchases aren't keeping up, so the surplus keeps widening.
Reuters reports China's trade surplus this year is on track to exceed last year's $1.2 trillion, setting another record.
This reflects a structural mismatch between weak domestic demand and strong production capacity — a mismatch no single expo can resolve.
Can the Import Expo actually boost imports?
Last year's CIIE generated $83.5 billion in intended deals, up 4.4% year-on-year — a large headline number, yet the surplus kept growing over the same period.
This means → there is a gap between the expo's deal volume and real trade rebalancing: contracts get signed, but the surplus still rises.
This edition takes place as the U.S. and China hold a fragile truce — Trump and Xi are set to meet twice more this year — while EU–China friction over EV subsidies continues to escalate.
Who is this expo really talking to?
Ding framed the CIIE as "a proactive step to expand imports and a concrete action to champion an open world economy."
Yet since its 2018 launch, China's trade imbalance with major partners including the EU and the U.S. has grown, not shrunk.
In plain terms = the Import Expo functions more as a diplomatic signaling platform than an actual rebalancing tool — China is saying "our door is open," but the data show far less coming in than going out.
市场有风险，内容仅供研究参考，不构成投资建议。