Premier Li stresses importance of cooperation at Boao Forum

2019-03-28
CGTN

Premier Li Keqiang on March 28 stressed the importance of cooperation in the face of world economic headwinds, at the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia, which is running through March 29 in China’s Hainan province.

“In face of world economic headwinds, no country can stay immune or resolve all the problems on its own. It’s imperative to seek an inclusive path of mutually beneficial cooperation. We need to embrace the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind,” according to Premier Li.

“China’s economy has been operating steadily since the beginning of the year, with positive changes emerging and market expectations being improved. China will not resort to massive economic stimulus to boost growth, but will continue to open up and innovate to energize market players and strengthen endogenous impetus for economic development.”

China has started to formulate matching regulations and rules to support the implementation of the newly-adopted Foreign Investment Law. The supporting rules will go into effect together with the foreign investment law on Jan 1, 2020, he said.

China to further ease market access for foreign investment

China will further relax controls on market access and shorten the negative list for foreign investment, Premier Li said.

By the end of June, China will revise and issue the negative list for foreign investment, the negative list for foreign investment in the free-trade zones, and the foreign investment guidance catalog, Premier Li said.

China will shorten the negative list and further open up to foreign investment the industries including value-added telecom service, medical institutions, education services, transportation, infrastructure, and energy and resources, Premier Li said.

China will also facilitate trade by lowering the cost and improving the efficiency of customs clearance, said the Premier.

“We shall treat enterprises of all types of ownership equally, and ensure fair play and common development among Chinese and foreign businesses with impartial supervision,” Premier Li said.

China advocates free and fair trade

“All parties must actively push for the global governance reform, which should not aim to start a new structure, or to serve a minority of countries, but to seek the broadest possible consensus,” the Premier said.

“China supports reforms of the World Trade Organization, but its basic principles and core values must be maintained.”

Premier Li reiterated calls to safeguard the rule-based multilateral trading system and seek win-win cooperation, stressing that no country can stay immune alone from such challenges as downward pressure in the global economy.

The theme of this year’s Boao Forum is “Shared Future, Concerted Action, Common Development”. It has about 50 official sessions, with CEO dialogues and round-table meetings.

The main topics include an open world economy, multilateralism, innovation-driven development and high-quality development.

The annual gathering is dubbed the “Asian Davos”. It has been held in Boao, Hainan province since 2001.