Fourth China International Import Expo to begin
The fourth China International Import Expo will begin today in Shanghai, running until November 10.
Up to 3,000 companies will attend the event, with some 284 of them from the Fortune Global 500. Attendees will range from the public health, technology, sports and consumer goods sectors.
The expo comes as China looks to expand its global investments to mitigate the effects of decoupling with the US. However, the event’s push for investment is directly contradicted by Chairman Xi Jinping’s recent crackdown on China’s private sector, including the new intense scrutiny being paid to Chinese tech-giants Alibaba and Tencent.
Xi’s anti-business campaign has aimed to eliminate challengers to his authority and redistribute their massively agglomerated wealth. Nevertheless, the crackdown has costed China an estimated $1 trillion in market value.
Expect the expo to be a much-needed reprieve for the world’s largest companies, who saw a virtually unprecedented 4.8% revenue drop this year because of the pandemic. Yet, given China’s private sector crackdown, lackluster 4.9% Q3 growth, energy shortage, supply chain issues and semiconductor shortages, it’s unlikely the expo will greatly benefit China’s ailing economy. As such, next year’s 20th Party Congress may well open new internal challenges to Chairman Xi’s governance.
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