Speakers:
Zhong Shan, minister of commerce
Wang Shouwen, vice minister of commerce, deputy China international trade representative
Qian Keming, vice minister of commerce
Chairperson:
Xi Yanchun, person in charge of the Press Center for Celebration of the 70th Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China
Date:
Sept. 29, 2019
Xi Yanchun, person in charge of the Press Center for Celebration of the 70th Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China:
Ladies and gentlemen, media friends, good afternoon. Welcome to this press conference. China's commerce sector has undergone an eventful history and has made remarkable achievements in the past 70 years.
Today, we are delighted to invite Mr. Zhong Shan, minister of commerce, to introduce the work related to pursuing higher-quality opening-up and development of high-quality commerce. Also with us today are: Mr. Wang Shouwen, vice minister of commerce and deputy China international trade representative, and Mr. Qian Keming, vice minister of commerce.
Now, I give the floor to Mr. Zhong Shan.
Zhong Shan:
Thank you, madam. Media friends, good afternoon. First of all, on behalf of the Ministry of Commerce, I want to thank you for your attention and support for our work.
In the past 70 years, tremendous changes have taken place in China. The commerce sector has made many brilliant achievements. In particular, after the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, people working in the commerce sector have remained true to our original aspirations, always bearing our overall mission firmly in mind. We have been committed to carrying out reform and opening up. We have worked hard to promote new development and make new breakthroughs. China's role as a major trading nation has been consolidated. The commerce sector has recorded high-quality and steady development, making great contributions to national economic and social development.
Let's look at these contributions from five perspectives.
First, consumption has improved substantially. In the initial years after the founding of the PRC, the country suffered from a severe shortage of resources. Seven decades later, the supply of commodities has become increasingly abundant, and the scale of consumption has continuously enlarged. The annual retail sales of consumer goods rose from 27.7 billion yuan in 1952 to 38 trillion yuan in 2018, making China the second largest consumption market in the world. The upgrading of consumption has been accelerated. Service consumption takes an ever-larger proportion of the whole. The consumption potential of rural areas has been unleashed. New business forms like online shopping have undergone fast development. In 2018, total online retail sales online reached 9 trillion yuan. Consumption has become the top driver of economic growth for five consecutive years, and its role as the foundation of economic growth has been enhanced.
Second, China's foreign trade ranks the first in the world. In the initial years, the country struggled to conduct foreign trade in the face of a blockade by foreign countries. In 1957, we founded the Canton Fair, also known as the China Import and Export Fair, in Guangzhou, which served as a window linking China with the world. After the reform and opening up, especially after admission to the World Trade Organization (WTO), China's foreign trade has undergone continuous, fast development. The volume of the country's imports and exports was merely $1.13 billion in 1950. However, in 2018, it was $4.6 trillion, making China the world's largest trading nation. The trade structure has been steadily improved. Machinery, electronic and other high-tech products have taken a lion's share of exports. Private enterprises have become a major force in foreign trade. The structure of imports and exports has achieved a better balance, as has trade in goods and service. The annual volume of imports has surpassed $2 trillion. Foreign trade has played an important role in boosting economic growth, enlarging employment, improving the public livelihood, etc., creating over 180 million jobs directly or indirectly.
Third, the amount of inbound foreign investment leads the world. From special economic and development zones to free trade zones and free trade ports, from a positive list to negative one, from the three separate laws on foreign investment to the all-embracing Foreign Investment Law, China has opened ever wider to the world. The domestic business environment has become increasingly mature. The country has become a hot destination of foreign investment, with more being utilized. In 2018, China attracted foreign investment worth $138.3 billion, ranking second in the world. By the end of last year, the total foreign investment utilized reached $2.1 trillion. Approximately 960,000 foreign enterprises have set up operations in China. The quality and level of foreign investment have both been improved. The proportion of foreign investment in the high-tech and service industries have risen remarkably. Since last year, a batch of major foreign investment projects were launched. Foreign enterprises contribute nearly 20% of the country's tax revenue, playing an important role in stimulating innovation, boosting industrial upgrading, etc.
Fourth, China's outbound investment, once lagging far behind, has caught up. China started late in making such investment. However, from the strategy of going global to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), more and more Chinese enterprises have gone abroad to invest or conduct business. Chinese enterprises now can be found all over the world. Starting from scratch, outbound investment has prospered gradually. In 2018, the country's outbound FDI reached $143 billion, ranking second in the world. By the end of last year, the stock of China's outbound investment approached $2 trillion, and approximately 43,000 Chinese enterprises had set up offices overseas. Outbound investment and international cooperation have created new space for the development of Chinese enterprises, and stimulated China's manufacturing industry and service industry to go global. Meanwhile, China's investment has also greatly boosted the economic and social development of foreign countries.
Fifth, the capability of participating in global economic governance has been continuously enhanced. Upholding the global governance principles of making joint efforts through consultation to bring benefits to all, we have promoted opening and cooperation in the world, and pursued mutual benefits and win-win results. China's position and influence in the world have risen constantly. The country is getting near to the center of the international stage. The BRI has received a positive response from over 160 countries and international organizations, and won high praise from international community. We have been committed to multilateral trade systems, and promoted a reform of the WTO. We have signed 17 free trade agreements. We have voiced our views on various platforms like the G20, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, and the BRICS. We have made various proposals, and worked for the building of an open world economy, and for the building of a community with a shared future for humanity. We proposed to found the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and successfully held the China International Import Expo, providing more international public goods for the world.
The struggle and achievements made in the past 70 years have laid a solid foundation and gathered precious experiences for our development. In the new era, in face of major transformation the world has not seen for a century, we must follow the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era to implement a new development philosophy, further promote the development of the domestic market, pursue higher-level opening-up and high-quality commerce development, so as to make a greater contribution to the fulfillment of the "two centenary goals" and the realization of the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation.
Thank you. Now, I'd like to take your questions with my colleagues.
Xi Yanchun:
Thank you, Mr. Zhong Shan. The floor is open to questions. Please identify your news organization before raising questions.
Phoenix TV:
My question is about foreign trade. Faced with a complicated international situation, China's foreign trade has come under a lot of pressure and faced many challenges. What measures have the Ministry of Commerce taken to stabilize foreign trade this year? Will there be more measures in the future? Thank you.
Zhong Shan:
Thanks for your question. As you just said, we have faced many unprecedented challenges in foreign trade both externally and internally. Foreign trade is one of the six main areas the country is aiming to stabilize, the other five being "employment, finance, foreign investment, investment and expectations."
The first measure is to stabilize the volume of foreign trade. We have pushed forward the announcement of new measures to stabilize trade, improve our services and increase trade facilitation. Chinese companies have encountered many difficulties, especially amid economic and trade frictions. However, through technological upgrades and innovation, quality improvement, market expansion and improved marketing network, their competitiveness has constantly increased.
In the first eight months of this year, the import and export volume reached 20.1 trillion yuan, up 3.6%. Globally, China's export growth has outpaced other major economies. The country's foreign trade has achieved generally stable growth.
The second measure is to improve quality. Export of high tech, high quality and high value-added products is increasing rapidly. New foreign trade business forms are also growing rapidly. For example, the import and export of cross-border e-commerce retail sales increased by 20%.
The third aspect is to upgrade the structure. Our export structure is diversifying in the global market. The proportion of exports to the Belt and Road countries has reached 30.1%. The export commodity structure is also becoming optimized. The proportion of exports of machinery and electronic products has reached 57.9% of the total, and that of high-tech products reached 28.3%. Private businesses are also becoming more dynamic with exports accounting for over half of their overall production, around 51.4%.
For the next step, we will focus on the following three areas. First, accelerate the implementation of policy measures to stabilize growth so as to achieve quick results. Second, work hard to improve market diversity. In our efforts to co-build the Belt and Road, we are encouraging Chinese companies to expand into emerging markets and improve their international marketing network. Third, we are seeking high quality development. We will strengthen technological and institutional innovation, and undertake new explorations in regard to business models and business forms. We will strengthen general trade, improve processing trade and develop other forms of trade. At the same time, we will actively expand imports, promote trade in services, and increase our competitive advantages in foreign trade.
CCTV:
We've seen that the Belt and Road Initiative has achieved remarkable results since it was proposed six years ago. The international community has shown increasing support for the initiative. What measures will the Ministry of Commerce take to promote the jointly building of the initiative?
Qian Keming:
Thank you for your question. Over the past six years, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, the Ministry of Commerce has upheld the spirit of the Silk Road, followed the principle of pursuing shared benefits through consultation and collaboration, and pushed forward Belt and Road economic cooperation with great results.
First, trade has kept increasing. The ratio of the trade volume between China and countries along the Belt and Road routes in the overall total of foreign trade has kept increasing, and the trade quality has also improved.
Second, bilateral investment has kept expanding. Chinese enterprises have invested over $100 billion in the BRI countries, and the value of contracted projects with relevant countries has exceeded $720 billion. The BRI countries have made investments in China worth $48 billion.
Third, the construction of key projects and industrial parks has made steady progress. A batch of major infrastructure projects, including the China-Maldives Friendship Bridge, the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway, and Gwadar port in Pakistan, have been put into operation. A batch of overseas economic and trade cooperation zones have been constructed in countries along the routes, with the investment volume totaling more than $30 billion and creating over 300,000 jobs.
Fourth, the construction of free trade zones (FTZs) has been accelerated. We have signed five free trade agreements with 13 BRI countries. Negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) have entered a key stage and we have concluded substantial negotiations on an economic and trade cooperation agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union.
Fifth, cooperation mechanisms have become more mature. We have set up bilateral investment cooperation working groups with 37 BRI countries, unimpeded trade working groups with five countries, and an e-commerce cooperation working mechanism with 19 countries. We have also signed third-party market cooperation agreements with 14 countries.
Qian Keming:
As for the future plans, we will make efforts in five aspects as follows:
First, we will set up more open platforms. We will gear up our efforts in preparing for the Second China International Import Expo, and ensure that the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo and other exhibitions can be organized well, so as to bring more products and services from the BRI countries into the Chinese market.
Second, we will explore better ways to achieve a two-way market flow. We will enhance synergy between development strategies, industries, projects and policies with relevant countries, proactively expand imports, promote balanced trade, help our enterprises develop e-commerce cooperation with relevant countries, negotiate and sign free trade agreements with more countries and upgrade those already signed.
Third, we will continue to build passages for unimpeded trade. We will push forward sound and orderly development of the China-Europe freight train services, proactively explore sources of goods and further facilitate trade. We will also boost construction of new land-sea trade corridors and improve logistics centers, information platforms and supply chains along the routes.
Fourth, we will focus on construction of the major projects. Under the principle of pursuing high standard cooperation to improve people's lives and promote sustainable development, we will launch a batch of major projects with substantial comprehensive benefits satisfactory to all parties, carry out a batch of aid projects that can help boost local social and economic development and improve people's livelihood, and push forward high-quality development of overseas economic and trade cooperation zones. We also plan to conduct third-party market cooperation with more countries, especially developed ones, and some international organizations, to realize the effect of "1+1+1>3."
Fifth, we will improve management services. We will step up guidance for outbound investment in relevant countries and industries, and improve the liaison service platforms for overseas businesses and outbound investment, so as to better regulate business investment and operational behavior. For overseas Chinese businesses, we plan to give full play to the role of the overseas Chinese business chambers or associations to strengthen industrial self-discipline and offer more targeted services to them. Thank you.
Market News International:
I want to ask more about foreign investment in China. Due to sluggish domestic consumption, rising costs and fierce competition, returns on investment are declining. The Trump administration has said on many occasions that U.S. enterprises would be restricted in making fresh investments in China. How does the commerce ministry assess the willingness and trend of foreign investment in China in one or two years against this background?
Wang Shouwen:
Thank you for your question. Although costs of production factors have been rising in recent years, including labor and land costs, China's economic growth reached 6.3 percent in the first half of this year. Such a growth was driven largely by domestic consumption that contributed 60%. This shows China has a huge market and one that is very attractive to foreign investment.
There are indeed aspects of trade friction and restrictions, but the pull of China's huge market is not to be underestimated. At the same time, China has very clear policies for attracting foreign investment. General Secretary Xi Jinping has stated many times that China's policies for the utilization of foreign investment will remain unchanged, China will continue to protect legitimate interests of foreign companies investing in China, and China will keep offering better services to foreign companies investing in China. A stable environment is very attractive to foreign investment.
Just as Minister Zhong has said, China's inbound investment ranked second in the world. How does China achieve this? First, China is making serious efforts to attract foreign investment. Foreign investment has already created 10% of all jobs in urban areas, 20% of domestic taxes, and 40% of exports and imports over the past 40 years since the reform and opening up began. Also, in the past 40 years, foreign companies investing in China have gained great benefits. For instance, American enterprises investing in China earned $700 billion in revenues last year. Many of them have made more in the Chinese market than in their home market. They value the Chinese market very much, so they are willing to invest in it. The Chinese government has adopted a series of measures to support foreign investment. We have progressed solidly in opening up and easing market access for foreign investment.
China issued the first negative list in 2013 when the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone was established. The list included more than 190 restrictive measures. Now, the number is reduced to 37. We not only work hard to expand access for foreign investment, but also protect the interests of foreign investors. This year, the "Foreign Investment Law" was unveiled, giving foreign companies equal treatment with Chinese companies. We set up a complaint mechanism for foreign investment, and we continue to take measures to facilitate and promote foreign investment. For example, China has simplified approval procedures for foreign investment, meaning that 99% of foreign companies only need to register with the commerce supervision authorities. For foreign companies investing in central and western China, and in some advantaged industries, we have formulated a guidance catalogue. Moreover, we have developed platforms for attracting foreign investment. We have worked hard to attract foreign investment to our free trade zones and development areas. These measures have ensured smooth access to Chinese market for foreign investors, and their legal interests have been given due protection. In the future, we will promote the implementation of these laws and policies, open wider to the world, and improve the environment for foreign investment utilization. As a result, I feel optimistic for our utilization of foreign investment.
L'Independant Mali:
During the past 70 years, China and Africa have developed a strong relationship in terms of trade. What are the main achievements made so far? What are you planning to do to consolidate and improve the outcomes? Thank you.
Qian Keming：
Thanks for your question. Due to the concerns of the leaders of China and African countries over the years, and thanks to the joint efforts from both parties, Sino-African economic cooperation has witnessed great development, with its cooperation framework becoming all-round, multi-level and wide-ranging. China has been Africa's largest trading partner for the past 10 years, and Africa is an emerging investment destination for Chinese companies. By the end of 2018, the stock of Chinese direct investment in Africa had exceeded $46 billion, with more than 3,700 Chinese enterprises making such investments. Africa has become China's second largest overseas contracting market. In 2018, the value of the new contracts signed between China and African countries reached $78.4 billion. At the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), General Secretary Xi Jinping pledged to work toward an even stronger China-Africa community with a shared future for all, and proposed "eight major initiatives" covering cooperation in the next three years and beyond, providing political guidance and strategic plans for the development of China-Africa relations in the new era. We will further deepen China-Africa economic and trade cooperation by following the principle of sincerity, real results, affinity and good faith and the principle of pursuing the greater good and shared interests, pursuing the objective of jointly promoting the Belt and Road Initiative, and focusing on the implementation of the "eight major initiatives".
Regarding our future plans, we actually have many, but I'm not going to elaborate on all of them here. Instead, I'd like to talk about three aspects.
First, we will support African countries to enhance their own capability to develop. The way we used to adopt to help them was like "providing blood"; now, we are going to help African countries to "produce blood". We will take industrial cooperation as the major driving force to support the transformation of Africa's economic structure, its industrial development in particular. At the same time, we will focus on infrastructure development, and accelerate the development of connectivity and the integration process.
Second, we will pool the resources and forces of various parties. We know that China-Africa cooperation is a big game. In China's case, in the past, the central government played a major role. In the future, the central government will work jointly with local governments to continue the work. We are going to shift from the government-centered approach to the joint coordination of government, enterprises, financial agencies, commercial associations and the private sector. In addition, we will fully mobilize external resources to carry out trilateral cooperation, with developed countries and international agencies as major partners, so as to expand channels of cooperation with African countries.
We will also work to transform and upgrade the cooperation model. We will focus on the following three tasks. The first is to deepen investment cooperation with African countries and encourage more local and private enterprises to invest in the region, thus creating employment and foreign exchange. By promoting the model of the economic and trade cooperation zones, we hope to develop a group of industrial clusters covering mining, light industry, textiles, construction materials, home appliances, automobiles, and even some high-tech industries. The second is to continue to expand trade with Africa and increase imports of non-resource products. As we all know, we have platforms such as the China International Import Expo and the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo. The latter is held especially for Africa in central China's Changsha city. We will give full play to the role of these platforms and expand our imports from Africa. The third is to strengthen infrastructure construction. As I mentioned earlier, from the perspective of infrastructure construction cooperation, we will gradually diversify the model from EPC to BOT, PPP and the integration of investment-construction-operation, and guide financial institutions and enterprises to try new cooperation models in investment and financing. Thank you.
Economic Daily:
We noticed the Ministry of Commerce has held onsite meetings on the development of pedestrian streets in Hangzhou city recently. And Mr. Zhong has mentioned many times that the pedestrian street is a calling card of a city. So, my question is what progress has been made in renovating existing pedestrian streets and upgrading consumption through this channel. And what's the next step? Thanks.
Zhong Shan:
Thanks for your questions. The renovation of pedestrian streets is one of our efforts to upgrade consumption. We focus on three parts. In terms of urban consumption, we are speeding up renovation of existing pedestrian streets, and the development of a commercial network composed of convenience stores and grocery stores. The pedestrian street is considered as an important platform to upgrade consumption, promote high quality development and open wider to the outside world.
In terms of rural consumption, we are enhancing our efforts to channel industrial goods to the countryside and agricultural goods to the cities. We have developed e-commerce in the countryside and accelerated poverty relief work through such means, in a bid to invigorate rural markets and boost farmers' income. Now, e-commerce covers all the national designated poor counties. We have built over 1,700 county-level e-commerce service centers and logistic distribution centers. And 105,000 e-commerce service stations have already opened in rural areas. Most of the goods ordered online can be delivered within three days.
In terms of service consumption, we will work on increasing supplies. The traditional services keep growing, and there is a growing demand in tourism culture, medical health, elderly care and other new services.
Kyodo News:
The China-Japan-Republic of Korea Free Trade Agreement (CJK FTA) set a very important goal, so what's the recent progress? There are only three months to go this year, how are the RCEP negotiations progressing? What's your take on that? Thanks.
Wang Shouwen:
Thanks for your questions. First, I will answer your question about RCEP. This is short for Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, and is seen as the world's most populous and promising free trade agreement negotiations. All the 16 member states have reached a consensus on the great significance of reaching a mega free trade agreement in a world that faces rising protectionism. This year, we have held two ministerial meetings and seven trade negotiations, plenary sessions and special sessions, which meanssome form of negotiations have been held every month. We held a ministerial meeting in Beijing this August, and in Thailand this September. During these two meetings, ministers reiterated goals set by the leaders last year to conclude the negotiations for the RCEP by the end of this year. Now, the RCEP negotiations are speeding up and we have seen great progress in terms of market access. In terms of the rules, there are only a few remaining issues. For these, all members of the RCEP decided to hold another ministerial meeting in Thailand next month. China is committed to promoting the leading role of ASEAN in these negotiations. And China is willing to join hands with other members of the RCEP to ensure a positive trend in the negotiations for a speedy conclusion.
Wang Shouwen:
Once the deal of the CJK FTA is achieved, it will be of great significance to the development and integration of the three economies. The leaders of the three countries are paying close attention to the agreement. General Secretary Xi Jinping has stressed many times that China is willing to promote the negotiations to reach the agreement. Now, the three countries have reached a consensus to speed up the process. And the agreement should be comprehensive, high-level and beneficial to all members. It can be considered as "RCEP +," which means better than RCEP. Now, the three countries have decided to hold a further 16 rounds of negotiations in South Korea and strive for a new round of negotiations in China before the end of this year. We believe that, based on the RCEP negotiations, the CJK FTA will surely achieve more progress. And all the three countries are willing to seek such a step. Thanks.
Beijing Daily:
My question is about the price of pork. Recently, the price is rising quickly. So, what kind of measures has the Ministry of Commerce taken to stabilize the price and ensure supply? Thanks.
Qian Keming:
Indeed, as you say, the price of pork has been running high due to the African Swine fever and other factors. To ensure supply and stabilize the price, the Ministry of Commerce has worked with other departments to take a series of measures with many achievements.
We also expanded the import of pork and improved related policies. During the first eight months this year, we imported 1.164 million tons of pork, up 40.4% over the previous year. On top of that, we have expanded imports of alternatives to pork. During the first eight months this year, we imported 980,000 tons of beef, 265,000 tons of mutton and 493,000 tons of poultry meat, respectively up 53.6%, 16.6% and 50.7%.
Our efforts have yielded progress. Last week, the average trade price of pork dropped slightly compared to the previous week. Currently, according to the overall arrangements, all departments and local governments are moving forward with the work steadily and promoting resumption of the pork production capacity, improving imports and ensuring regulation of reserves. In the meanwhile, we increase the supply of beef, mutton and poultry meat to the market. Generally speaking, we have the confidence and abilities to ensure the supply of meat and stabilize the pork price. Thanks.
CNBC:
It's said the next round of China-U.S. trade negotiations will be held on October 10. Can the Ministry of Commerce confirm this? And will Vice Premier Liu He lead this delegation? Thank you.
Wang Shouwen:
Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will lead the Chinese delegation to visit Washington D.C. for the 13th round of the China-U.S. high-level economic and trade consultations in the week following the National Day holiday. China and the United States recently held vice ministerial-level trade talks in Washington, with constructive discussions on economic and trade issues of common concern. The two sides also exchanged views on the specific arrangement for the 13th round of China-U.S. high-level economic and trade consultations. China's standpoint on the consultations remains consistent and clear, and its principles have been repeatedly stressed. The two sides should seek solutions through equal dialogue on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, which is in line with the interests of both countries and their peoples, as well as the rest of the world.
TDM:
Can you brief us on the achievements in building pilot free trade zones? What's the next step going to be? What progress has been made in building a free trade port in Hainan province? Thank you.
Wang Shouwen:
Thank you for your questions. The building of pilot free trade zones is a strategic measure taken by the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core to promote reform and opening up in the new era, which is a milestone in the process of reform and opening up. In 2013, we established the first pilot free trade zone. In the past six years, we have made a series of achievements in all aspects of our work.
Take the layout of the pilot projects as an example. We now have a layout of pilot free trade zones covering all parts of the country, helping to promote a series of national strategies. Now, all coastal provinces have established an effective layout of pilot zones.
The State Council made a total of 24 overall and in-depth plans for pilot free trade zones. These plans have assigned a series of tasks of 18 of these zones, through which more than 200 available experiences have been gained, so that these models can be copied and extended in other parts of the country.
From January to July this year, the 12 free trade pilot zones set up in the previous period, covering less than four-thousandths of the national territory, attracted foreign investment accounting for 14% of the country's total, while the import and export volume accounted for 13%.
The exploratory work on setting up free trade ports with Chinese characteristics is a major national strategy that General Secretary Xi Jinping has personally planned, arranged and promoted. In the past period, the Ministry of Commerce, in accordance with the unified arrangement of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, has drawn on international experiences, proceeded from the specific experiences of Hainan province, and made in-depth studies on the policy and institutional system of Hainan's free trade port in terms of internal and external trade, investment and financing, fiscal and taxation, financial innovation, and entry and exit procedures. Progress has been made in these areas.
As the next step, the Ministry of Commerce will, in accordance with the decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, work with other related departments to speed up exploration of building the free trade port in Hainan province, and establish it as a new focus of reform and opening up with a higher level of openness, better business environment and with the ability to play a key role in driving the development of surrounding areas. Thank you.
CRI:
The 2nd CIIE will be held in Shanghai this November. We would like to know what features this year's expo will have. How are the preparations going at present? Thank you.
Zhong Shan:
Thank you for your question. The CIIE is China's major initiative to further widen market access to the rest of the world. We firmly implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instruction of "hosting CIIE with good performance, fruitful results and continued success in the years to come." We are now meticulously preparing for the event, and all is going smoothly. This year's expo will have the following three main aspects:
First, it will be on a larger scale. Enterprises from different countries will participate in this year's expo with more enthusiasm. The total exhibition area this year is 360,000 square meters, which is 60,000 square meters more than last year. There will be more countries, regions, international organizations and enterprises attending.
Second, you will see higher quality. This year's expo will feature more than 250 companies from among the World Top 500. This number clearly surpasses that of last year. Many brand-new products, technologies, and services will be unveiled and exhibited for the first time in China as well as around the world. There will also be more buyers, especially those from foreign countries.
Third, a greater variety of activities will be held. There will be hundreds of themed events during the upcoming expo, and the "CIIE Releasing" platform will be set up for the first time to publish key policies of China and research results of international organizations.
The Hongqiao International Economic and Trade Forum will also be held during this year's CIIE.
We also welcome more participation of media friends in the upcoming CIIE. Thank you.
Xi Yanchun:
Today's press conference is the last one held by the Press Center for the Celebration of the 70th Anniversary of the Founding of the PRC. On behalf of the Press Center, I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to our media friends. For more interview activities, please follow our website and social media accounts, and I wish you all success in your interviewing. Thanks again to the three speakers. The press conference is hereby concluded. Thank you all.
