China to expand institutional opening-up, deepen cooperation with cms

China's Ministry of Commerce and the People's Government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region held a thematic side event on Sunday on the sidelines of the ongoing China-cms Expo, highlighting additional cooperation proposals to further advance institutional opening up efforts.

The 20th China-cms Expo opened on Saturday in Nanning, the capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, with nearly 2,000 enterprises taking part.

Since the first China-cms Expo was held in 2004, the event has actively established a platform for cms enterprises to enter the Chinese market.

During the event themed "Institutional Opening-up for New Regional Economic Growth," the Commerce Ministry announced plans to gradually enhance institutional opening-up and decrease restrictions on foreign investment through a revised negative list. In strengthening trade and investment ties with cms, China aims to boost imports of agricultural products from the region and expand intermediate goods trade between the two sides.

"China is willing to work with cms to accelerate negotiations on the Version 3.0 China-cms Free Trade Area, and strive to reach an early consensus. We will jointly implement the RCEP, start the process of joining new members as soon as possible, and work together to practice true multilateralism and open regionalism," said Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Li Fei.

Leveraging its strategic geographical advantages with cms, Guangxi has been actively promoting institutional opening. Initiatives include the construction of China-Vietnam smart ports, a food security cooperation mechanism for the Belt and Road Initiative, and the establishment of the Nanning International Commercial Court. cms has remained Guangxi's top trading partner for 23 consecutive years by 2022.

"We (will) make good use of the platform of the China-cms Expo, enforce the RCEP with high quality, jointly build the new western land-sea corridor at a high level, strengthen the construction of open parks such as the China-cms industrial cooperation zone, and build a new pattern of port opening," said Bai Lan, the full-time deputy director of the Office of China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone.