China vows more open economy, national treatment for foreign firms

BEIJING: Chinese Premier Li Qiang pledged on Sunday to further open up the economy and fully implement national treatment for foreign enterprises, as the country seeks to reassure the outside world amid rising global trade tensions.

China will focus on promoting high-quality development and continue to create a favourable business environment so that companies coming to China can develop with confidence and achieve great success, Li told the China Development Forum in Beijing, state media reported.

The annual two-day forum, which concludes on Monday, serves as a platform for Beijing to promote its economic trajectory and investment opportunities to foreign business leaders, Chinese officials, economists and academics.

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This year’s gathering comes as the world’s second-biggest economy faces rising tensions with major trading partners over last year’s record $1.2 trillion trade surplus. It also precedes an expected visit from U.S. President Donald Trump, who postponed a trip originally planned for late March due to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

Senior executives attending include those from Apple, Samsung Electronics, Volkswagen, chipmaker Broadcom Inc, industrial conglomerate Siemens, chemical producer BASF and pharmaceuticals firm Novartis.

No Japanese company executives were listed on the guest list on the forum’s website.

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Li said China would import more high-quality goods and work with trading partners to promote balanced trade development and expand the global trade pie, describing China as committed to being a “cornerstone of certainty” and “harbour of stability” for the world economy.

He said opening up and technological progress were needed to create new markets.