Better condition to be created for foreign investment in China: Minister

China will continue to expand ceaselessly its opening to the outside world and create a better condition for foreign investors to come for investment, Said Bo Xilai, Minister of the Ministry of Commerce at the 3rd joint meeting of the Sino-ROK investment cooperation committee held on 20 December in Beijing.

China has already revised more than 2500 laws and regulations, forming a whole set of economic and trade legal system that caters to the rules of the WTO since its entry into the organization. China's general tariff level has already lowered to 10.4 percent with the opening of its service trade sectors to the outside world being now gradually expanded, Bo Xilai said. For instance, the "Administrative rules over the foreign investment in China's business circle" entered into force on the 1st of last June has opened to the outside the right of distribution in time. The "Foreign Trade Law" brought into force on 1st last July made open the right for foreign trade half a year in advance and the "Detailed regulations on the governance of foreign-owned banking organizations" practiced on 1st last September has further loosened the foreign investment in the financial and insurance areas for operation with the restriction on business scope and ratio of shareholding further released.

The Chinese government paid a high attention to the protection of the intellectual property right, making it as an important content for improving the environment for investment in China, Bo Xilai pointed out. China has already established a legal system for the protection of the intellectual property right that caters to the international rule, set up a national working team consisting of 12 departments under the State Council for the protection of the intellectual property right, and under which formed a law-execution contingent comprising of almost 500,000 personnel, thereby ensuring the incessant strengthening of the nationwide work for the protection of the intellectual property right.

The needs and requirement in the Chinese market are being continuously widened, Bo Xilai expressed, the gross volume of China's import and export averages an annual increase of 200 billion US dollars, of which the import increase averages 100 billion US dollars annually since China's entry into the World Trade Organization Bo expressed. According to the forecast, China's import volume by that time will exceed 1 trillion US dollars within a timeframe of six to seven years to come. Along with the stepping-up for building a well-off society on a full scale in China there will be more and more families of medium income, which mean a stronger purchase power to emerge. China also owns a fortune of high-quality human-resources with every year to see a newly increased contingent of 2 million university graduates. China also witnesses a stable political order in society and enjoys a friendly relation with neighboring countries. All these have provided foreign businessmen with a greater space favorable for investment in China.

Speaking of the Sino-ROK economic cooperation, Bo Xilai pointed out the recent years have witnessed a quicker pace of the ROK investment in China. In the previous period from last January to November the actual investment by the ROK enterprises in China reached 6.3 billion US dollars and up to the end of November the accumulated ROK investment in China told 26 billion US dollars, being the sixth in the world from which China drew in its foreign capitals. From last January to November Sino-ROK trade value accounted for 81 billion US dollars, overtaking the total of last year and expecting to break through 90 billion by the end of the year. The Sino-ROK economic and trade cooperation sees a favorable tendency with the economic structure of the two countries on a stronger side complementary to each other and in the new era efforts should be made to enhance the gradation and level of the cooperation. It is hoped that the ROK enterprises will enlarge their investment regions and strengthen the technological cooperation among enterprises of the two countries.

Lee Hee-beom, president of the ROK Investment Coordination Committee, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Energy said the ROK sets great store by the economic and trade cooperation with China and an international work of division structure between the ROK and China is in the shaping and China's investment in the ROK is also on the increase. The ROK is willing to make a faster development of the bilateral investment and cooperation together with China.

Officials concerned from the State Development and Reform Commission of China, General Administration of Customs and the State Investment Commission briefed something in relation to the economic situation, customs policy and the reform of the state owned enterprises in China at the meeting. The two parties exchanged in a deeper way the views on the participation by the ROK enterprises in the infrastructure construction in the fields of electricity, energy resources and transportation and communications and on the revision the "Investment Guarantee Agreement" as well as the topic of pushing ahead the economic and trade cooperation in northeastern Asia region.

Present at the meeting are the representatives from General Administration of Industry and Commerce of China, General Administration of Taxes, State Administration of Foreign Exchanges, Office in Charge of West Development under the State Council and China Council for the Promotion of Foreign Trade and the persons concerned from the ROK government and business circle.

By People's Daily Online