China expands int'l economic, trade cooperation to deliver mutually beneficial outcomes

BEIJING, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Over the past five years, China remained committed to opening up wider to the world and expanded international economic and trade cooperation to deliver mutually beneficial outcomes, said a government work report.

In response to changes in the external environment, China pursued a more proactive strategy of opening up and worked to boost reform and development with high-standard opening up, said the report submitted Sunday to the national legislature for deliberation.

Over the past five years, China's imports and exports were kept stable, and their quality was improved, the report said.

China developed new forms of foreign trade, built 152 new integrated pilot zones for cross-border e-commerce, and supported the establishment of overseas warehouses, it said.

The overall tariff level fell from 9.8 percent to 7.4 percent over the five years, it added.

China advanced trials for innovative development of trade in services across the board and adopted the negative list for cross-border trade in services, according to the report.

China took proactive and effective moves to utilize foreign investment, it added. A total of 21 pilot free trade zones have been established in China, and steady strides have been made in the development of Hainan Free Trade Port.

China promoted high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, it said. Imports and exports between China and other BRI countries increased at an annual rate of 13.4 percent, and exchanges and cooperation between China and these countries registered steady progress in a wide range of areas.

Over the past five years, six free trade agreements were newly concluded or upgraded; and the share of trade with China's free trade partners increased from 26 percent to around 35 percent of China's total trade volume, said the report.