Xi reassures foreign firms on opening-up

Message to development forum says nation to create opportunities for world

China will steadily expand institutional opening-up with regard to rules, regulations, management and standards, and will work with all countries and parties to share opportunities arising from it, President Xi Jinping said on Sunday.

In a congratulatory letter sent to the China Development Forum 2023, Xi said China will remain committed to its fundamental national policy of opening up to the outside world, pursue a mutually beneficial strategy, and continue to create opportunities for the world with new advances in China's development.

Xi said that at present, momentous changes of a like not seen in a century are accelerating across the world, regional conflicts and disturbances are frequent, and the global economic recovery is sluggish. He added that the facilitation of global economic recovery requires consensus and cooperation. The Global Development Initiative proposed by China has received wide support and an active response from the international community, said Xi.

Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, attended the opening ceremony of the forum and read out the congratulatory letter. In a keynote speech, he emphasized the importance of establishing a new development pattern. He said China aims to foster more open "dual circulation" development involving both domestic and foreign markets rather than a closed domestic loop.

Zheng Shanjie, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, said China welcomes foreign companies to invest and do business in the country and share its development opportunities. China will comprehensively deepen reforms and opening-up, promote the building of a high-standard market system and foster a world-class business environment, Zheng said.

The country will also make appropriate reductions to the negative list for foreign investment, ensure national treatment for all foreign-invested enterprises, enhance the stability, scale and structure of foreign trade and promote the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative, he said.

Citing China's economic performance in the first two months of 2023, Zheng said the Chinese economy is stabilizing and picking up, with a notable improvement in both supply and demand. The country has the confidence and capabilities to foster high-quality development.

China will strengthen coordination between fiscal and monetary policies as well as policies relating to employment, industry, investment, consumption, prices, environmental protection and regional development, which will support the country's high-quality development, he added.

Finance Minister Liu Kun said that China's fiscal policy will make strengthening support for market entities a priority to solidify the internal driving force for high-quality development, ensuring equal treatment for all market players, including private businesses and foreign enterprises.

Fiscal support will be delivered to medium-sized, small and micro enterprises, self-employed individuals and industries under stress to reduce their burden, Liu said.

The Ministry of Finance will increase macroeconomic adjustments, including boosting infrastructure investment in the areas of transportation, energy, hydraulics, agriculture and information. Consumption demand will be expanded by beefing up transfer payments and improving tax and fee benefits, he added.

Boosting technological innovation will remain a policy priority, Liu said. Efforts will be made to increase relevant expenditure, give better play to the key role of enterprises in innovation and improve fiscal and tax policies to promote industrial upgrades and boost emerging industries.

Jeffrey Sachs, a renowned economist and director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, told China Daily that "China's strength right now is that it is on the cutting edge of many of the most important technology innovations for the future. … This will be very good for China's growth in the future."

Sachs said China's constructive role in the world economy is further deepening. China is already the leading trade partner with most of the world. And the country is now at the cutting edge of innovation and key technologies for sustainable development. Meanwhile, the world's second-largest economy is playing a larger role in the global finance system, he added.

"President Xi Jinping's congratulatory letter at the opening ceremony of CDF … sends a very positive message to the world that China absolutely will continue to engage in a win-win manner with the world economy. I believe this is an accurate, correct and very important message," Sachs said.

Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said China's economy is experiencing a strong rebound that will deliver a welcome lift to the world economy, contributing about one-third of global growth in 2023.

Xinhua contributed to this story.