China to make business environment more foreign friendly

China will actively build an international, market-oriented, and legalized business environment, vigorously attract foreign investment, and welcome foreign enterprises to invest in China, said an official during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation China CEO Forum held in Beijing on Saturday.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is gradually fading. With China's further opening-up, the country is comprehensively and orderly opening up its service sector, said Wang Shouwen, vice-minister of commerce.

"APEC has served as a model of regional economic cooperation. The vitality and pragmatic achievements realized in the region have reinforced the confidence of member countries in further strengthening regional cooperation. China would vigorously develop the digital economy and promote the digitization of trade," Wang said.

Last year, the import and export trade volumes between China and the other 14 member states of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership reached 12.95 trillion yuan ($1.8 trillion), up 7.5 percent year-on-year. The value accounted for 30.8 percent of the total import and export value of China, according to the General Administration of Customs.

The RCEP agreement, which took effect on Jan 1, 2022, includes 15 Asia-Pacific countries. The trade pact is expected to reduce tariffs by up to 90 percent on goods traded among the members over the next two decades.

Meanwhile, Zhao Chenxin, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, told the forum that China would share the new opportunities emerged in the Asia-Pacific economic and trade cooperation through further opening-up.

Zhao said China would adhere to a green and low-carbon development path and comprehensively promote the green and low-carbon transformation of the society. The country would continue to support the development of clean energy such as photovoltaic and hydrogen energy, and guide more resources toward the development of a green and low-carbon economy.

"China will actively participate in the development of digitalization, big data and artificial intelligence in an integrated economy, and encourage more foreign investments in advanced manufacturing and high-tech sectors," Zhao said.

The IMF recently projected that the economic growth rate in the Asia Pacific region is expected to reach 4.6 percent this year, up from 3.8 percent last year. The region's contribution to the global economy is foreseen to reach around 70 percent, making it the most dynamic major region in the world in 2023.