China\'s Reforms and Openness

China just held its first China International Import Expo (CIIE), the first international-scale exhibition in the world.

Its success got worldwide appreciation. The expo was attended by more than 3,600 companies from 172 countries, bringing in at least 400,000 visitors from the circle of importers from China and other countries. The total transactions recorded were worth US$57.8 billion. Indonesian products on display, including palm oil, coffee, crackers and instant noodles, attracted the attention of many importers. The total of 43 Indonesian companies that participated in the event earned satisfying profits.

The success of the expo is one of the concrete results of the reforms and open-door policies that have been carried out continuously in China since 40 years ago.

Impacts of reform

Exactly 40 years ago, in 1978, China on the initiative of Deng Xiaoping began implementing reforms and open-door policies. The reforms were carried out in stages, from villages to cities, from experimental points to spread to all regions, from economic system reform to deep and comprehensive reforms in various fields. Throughout the implementation of the reforms, the Chinese people focused attention and energy on development for the advancement of the nation and state.

On this historic journey, China, besides emphasizing the independence of the nation, also opens itself to the outside world and cooperates with other countries in the world. The reform process also continues to fix various systemic constraints that hamper China\'s growth, until finally China has managed to find a development strategy that is in line with China\'s own national situation.

In the past 40 years, China\'s economy has grown at an average of 9.5 percent per year. China\'s international trade also grows by an average of 14.5 percent per year. This growth brings drastic changes to the lives of Chinese people, from being in a needy condition to being well off. The number of poor people in China, according to the latest United Nations poverty standards, has dropped by 700 million. China has become the world\'s second largest economic power, as well as the largest industrial country and the country with the largest foreign exchange reserves in the world. China is also building a social security system that covers the largest population in the world and is as well the country with the largest middle-class population and the fastest growing middle class in the world.

China\'s reforms are not only changing China itself, but they also affect the whole world. China has made significant contributions to overcoming the Asian financial crisis and the world financial crisis. China\'s growth has contributed more than 30 percent to world economic growth. The Belt and Road (B&R) initiative initiated by China has become the largest framework of international cooperation in the world.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Christine Lagarde, in early November 2018 in Shanghai, said that China has built a "bridge to the world" through its reform policy. She praised China\'s

reforms as having transformed the fate of hundreds of millions of people inside and outside China while simultaneously changing the economy of the whole world.

China has felt the tremendous benefits of these reforms, thereby determining its efforts to continue on the path of these reforms. Coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the reforms, China held the grand CIIE exhibition, which reflects China\'s determination to continue expanding the reforms and openness to the outside world. Chinese President Xi Jinping in his remarks to CIIE expressed China\'s commitment to always expand openness, encourage import potential and simplify market access.

Moreover, it is also creating an international-class business environment, realizing new heights in terms of openness to the outside world, encouraging the development of deeper multilateral and bilateral cooperation.

China\'s efforts to expand reform and openness are systematic, comprehensive and real. In 2018 alone, China drastically cut import tariffs on 1,449 consumer products and 1,585 industrial products. On Nov. 1, China once again imposed a tariff-cutting package so that the overall excise rate in China dropped to 7.5 percent. The magnitude of this tariff reduction exceeds the commitments previously given by China to the World Trade Organization.

China has also issued a new negative list for foreign investment to encourage China\'s openness in the financial, automotive, aviation and shipping fields, as well as other sectors of industry. In the World Bank\'s latest Ease of Doing Business Report, the ranking of China\'s ease of doing business rose 32 ratings compared to the previous one. This is proof of China\'s commitment to continue to fight for reform and openness.

China\'s reforms are in line with the demands of all Chinese people for better growth, innovation and livelihoods. China\'s reform policy is also in line with the current era, namely the demands of the people of many countries in the world to realize growth, cooperation and peace.

In 2019, China is to hold the second Belt and Road International Cooperation Forum Summit and the second CIIE exhibition. In the next 15 years, China targets imports of $30 trillion for commodity products and $10 trillion for service products. We hope the countries of the world, including Indonesia, would always actively participate in and support China\'s reform and openness policies for the creation of mutually beneficial cooperation and mutual progress in various fields.

China-Indonesia

At present, China and Indonesia are in the same development phase and carry out similar development tasks. The two countries are equally important emerging economic powers in the world, as well as members of the G20 and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). China and Indonesia have broad common interests in various international and regional issues so they are natural cooperation partners.

While attending the Informal Meeting of the APEC Economic Leaders, last November President Xi Jinping and President Joko Widodo held their seventh meeting and reached a number of important agreements for advancing relations between the two countries. China is ready to work with various groups in Indonesia to implement the agreements reached by the two heads of state, also expanding the alignment of the two countries\' national development strategies and encouraging mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields to realize prosperity for both countries and their entire populations.  (Xiao Qian, Ambassador of the People\'s Republic of China to Indonesia)