BEIJING, March 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The opening
ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2024 was held in
Boao, south China's Hainan Province on Thursday, with China's top legislator Zhao Leji stressing
China's economic potential,
appealing to international investors and calling for Asia solidarity and cooperation for regional
prosperity in his keynote speech.
Zhao, chairman of the National People's Congress Standing
Committee, highlighted that China
is pursuing a path of high-quality development and is deepening
reform and opening up, which he said will provide great development
opportunities for Asia and the
world.
'Investing in China is
investing in the future'
China has set an economic
growth target of around five percent for 2024 and the country's GDP
grew by 5.2 percent last year, one of the highest among major
economies. The Chinese economy has accounted for about one-third of
global growth, and the International Monetary Fund last year
projected that a 1 percentage point increase in GDP growth in
China will lead to a 0.3
percentage point increase in other Asian economies.
To transform its economy and achieve sustainable development,
China now is deepening reforms.
For example, China has pledged to
further shorten the negative list for foreign investment, remove
all restrictions on foreign investment access in the manufacturing
sector and deliver national treatment for foreign businesses.
On March 22, the Chinese Commerce
Ministry rolled out the first negative list for cross-border trade
in service sectors at the national level, in which sectors that are
not listed are, by default, open to foreign service suppliers under
the same conditions as for domestic service suppliers, a major step
for China's further opening
up.
China also promised to peak
carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality
before 2060. Official data shows that China's installed solar capacity accounted for
nearly half of the world's, the number of new energy vehicles
(NEVs) registered in China
accounts for over half of the world's and at least 25 percent of
the foliage expansion since the early 2000s globally came from
China. Zhao said China's green and low-carbon development is
expected to nurture a 10-trillion-yuan (about $1.4 trillion) market for investment and
consumption each year.
In addition, new drivers of China's economy resulting from tech innovation
are also growing fast. At the just concluded China Development
Forum, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said
the added value of China's
strategic emerging industries increased from 7.6 percent of GDP 10
years ago to more than 13 percent last year, the scale of
China's digital economy has
exceeded 50 trillion yuan, and
China has as many as 24 of the
world's top 100 sci-tech innovation clusters.
"The potential of China's
supersized market with over 1.4 billion people will be further
unlocked," said Zhao. "Investing in China is investing in the future."
Cooperation is vital for global prosperity
Zhao also expressed optimism for Asia's development at the forum, saying it's
the "most dynamic and promising" region in the world, but he warned
that protectionism and a cold-war mindset are undercutting some
countries' efforts for development and pushing the world toward
division and confrontation.
A report published by BFA Academy on Tuesday predicted that the
Asian economy will sustain a strong growth rate in 2024, accounting
for 49 percent of the world's GDP, and its growth rate is expected
to reach 4.5 percent.
Although the growth of Asia may
face pressures from a global economic slowdown, geopolitical
conflict and other factors, positive factors including accelerated
digital trade, recovery of tourism and advancements of regional
economic integration such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic
Partnership will add new impetus to Asian trade and investment, the
report predicted.
Zhao stressed that peace is a prerequisite for Asia's development in the face of intertwined
and complex global security threats. He called on Asian nations to
stay united, jointly stand against unilateralism and extreme
egotism, oppose confrontation between different camps, and prevent
the region and the world from becoming an arena for geopolitical
fighting.
During the 2022 Boao Forum, China proposed the Global Security Initiative,
promoting the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and
sustainable security. In 2021, China proposed the Global Development
Initiative, which promotes globalization, multilateralism and free
trade, aiming to build a just, equitable, open and inclusive
world.
"No country is able to develop itself behind closed doors," said
Zhao, adding "We must oppose trade protectionism and all forms of
erecting barriers, decoupling or severing supply chains, but
instead share opportunities in opening up and seek win-win outcomes
through cooperation."
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-03-28/China-deepens-reform-and-opening-up-appeals-to-global-investors-1sl0CI4gKDm/p.html
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