Foreign envoys focus on issues at two sessions

Diplomats say they look forward to next steps in reform and opening-up

Foreign diplomats in Beijing are paying a great deal of attention to China’s further steps to reform and open up during the upcoming sessions of the country’s top legislature and political advisory body.

Ettore Sequi, the Italian ambassador to China, said he will devote attention to laws to be approved by the National People’s Congress, including the new Foreign Investment Law and amendment of the Patent Law.

“We are confident that all these new laws, once passed, will contain concrete provisions in line with the Chinese government’s claims to further open its markets to foreign business,” he said.

The draft investment law, to be submitted to the upcoming plenary session of the NPC, aims to create a transparent, stable and predictable business environment for foreign investors and protect their rights and interests.

Sequi said the Chinese authorities have been determined and smart in securing a steady pace of growth while keeping potential sources of financial risk under control in the past few years.

“This, in turn, has benefited the global economy as a whole,” he said, adding that it is important to continue to send the right signals in terms of both domestic policies and international engagement.

One of the interests of Leela Paudyal, the ambassador of Nepal to China, is learning about China’s solutions to the global challenges of an economic slowdown so that the Chinese economy, and the global economy, will continue to thrive.

“I hope that the upcoming two sessions will carry forward the great momentum in China’s growth and development by discussing and deliberating policies that support and further accelerate the country’s forward march toward greater prosperity,” he said.

Luis Schmidt, Chile’s ambassador to China, has high expectations for what China has to say about international trade as a leading player.

“The upcoming two sessions will be very illuminating in regard to how Chinese authorities manage to achieve their aims in a difficult context for international trade and the global economy,” he said.

Schmidt said he will also pay close attention to any announcement related to the development of the Belt and Road Initiative during the two sessions.

The second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation will be held in April.

“The initiative is a visionary proposal to revitalize globalization,” Schmidt said.

Paudyal, of Nepal, said: “I hope and believe that the two sessions will discuss the positive effect of the BRI in China and in the outside world to make it more effective for achieving inclusive growth of regional economies.”

Environmental protection is another area of interest for foreign envoys.

The increasing number of days with blue skies in Beijing and its improving air quality over the past year is a visible indicator of the good progress that is being made, Paudyal said.

“This positive momentum needs

to be kept up,” he said.

Schmidt, the Chilean ambassador, said China has made extraordinary progress in its fight against pollution, and he is “very enthusiastic about the next measures that Chinese authorities may announce” during the upcoming two sessions.

Environmental issues continue to be a major concern for Diego Guelar, Argentine ambassador to China, who has observed the two sessions every year since he assumed the post in 2016.

“It is a major issue for all the people who live in China,” he said, noting that living in a better environment is part of the dream of Chinese people as well as others around the world.

Guelar is glad to see that China is working both at home and abroad to promote environmental protection.

“I’m waiting for the two sessions, and I want to see how the principle of the pursuit of happiness, or the Chinese dream, is going to be discussed,” he added.