Pacific Basin Economic Council Meeting Held in ShanghaiThe Pacific Basin Economic Council (PBEC) started its annual mid-term meeting Tuesday in Shanghai, and this is the first time the PBEC held such a meeting in China.Chinese Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Shi Guangsheng, Shanghai Mayor Xu Kuangdi, President of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Yu Xiaosong and PBEC International President Kosaku Inaba addressed the opening ceremony. Shi briefed the delegates on the progress made by China in its bid for the World Trade Organization (WTO) accession. "China will provide investors from both home and abroad with more stable and transparent legal environment after its entry into WTO," Shi said. Despite the slowdown of the current world economy and the economic downturn in some countries and regions, Shi said, China still kept its economy going at a high rate of 7.8 per cent in the first half of this year and the growth rate for the whole year is expected to stand at 7 per cent. Shi also made clear that China will continue to expand domestic demand, implement the proactive financial policy and a stable monetary policy. Xu noted that many important economic and trade partners of Shanghai are PBEC members, and that the PBEC will know about Shanghai's eagerness for new development and new cooperation in business through this meeting. The PBEC, a non-governmental economic and trade organization, was initiated in 1967 by entrepreneurs from Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada and Japan. With more than 1,200 large-scale enterprises as its members and 20 member committees, the PBEC aims to strengthen business ties among members and to promote economic and technological cooperation. |
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