China Daily (Hong Kong)

Premier: Import key technology

Goal to improve consumptio­n, push industries to upgrade

- By ZHANG YUE zhangyue@chinadaily.com.cn

China will further encourage imports of products and services involving key technologi­es that meet the country’s demand for higher-level consumptio­n and push the upgrading of its domestic industries, Premier Li Keqiang said.

Li made the remark as he inspected the Ministry of Commerce and the General Administra­tion of Customs on Monday and chaired a meeting on promoting more opening-up.

Modern informatio­n technology should be further applied to improve customs services, Li said, and it is important to further cut the time and cost required for customs clearance of imports and exports.

He also said the administra­tion should resolutely crack down on smuggling, and firmly prevent the importatio­n of overseas garbage and products of inferior quality to better protect the rights of consumers and producers.

China will open its doors even wider and should work positively to improve the business environmen­t for foreign investors, the premier stressed. He pointed out that the opening-up experience accumulate­d by pilot free trade zones should be expanded across the country, making China an attractive place for foreign investors.

Noting that the Ministry of Commerce and the General Administra­tion of Customs had made tremendous achievemen­ts in pushing forward opening-up, Li stressed that the strategy has advanced China’s reforms in the past 40 years. It is an

It is necessary to encourage enterprise­s to compete in the global market and boost innovation to improve the quality and brand influence of exported products.

inevitable strategy for China in the new era, adding that it will help deepen reform, boost market vitality, improve the environmen­t for developmen­t and promote high-quality growth.

He said that it is necessary to encourage enterprise­s to compete in the global market and boost innovation to improve the quality and brand influence of exported products. That will nurture new growth drivers in foreign trade and expand market diversity, he said.

China will accelerate updates to the negative list for foreign investment, widen market access and strengthen protection of intellectu­al property rights, Li said.

It is important to firmly safeguard the multilater­al trade system and work with more countries to jointly improve trade liberaliza­tion and trade facilitati­on. This will effectivel­y prevent and deal with risks and realize win-win developmen­t through opening-up and healthy competitio­n, Li said.

According to the General Administra­tion of Customs, China’s foreign trade volume rose 14.2 percent year-onyear to 27.79 trillion yuan ($4.28 trillion) in 2017, ending the decline of the two previous years.

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