_News Center_China International Fair for Investment & Trade (CIFIT)

Distinguished guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of the Chinese Government, I would like to offer my congratulations on the opening of the International Investment Forum 2009 and extend my most sincere welcome to all of you. Over the past year, the global economy has gone through the toughest test since the Great Depression in last century. Although some of the leading indicators of the global economy have shown signs of recovery, the world economy at large remains in recession and economic recovery looks set to be a long process full of twists and turns. Themed around “promoting international investment to accelerate economic recovery”, this forum will contribute to building consensus, boosting confidence and strengthening cooperation in these tough times. I wish the forum a great success!

This year marks the sixtieth anniversary of New China. Sixty years are just a fleeting moment in the long course of human history. Yet, for the Chinese nation, the six decades carry an extraordinary significance. Over the past sixty years, especially since the launch of the reform and opening-up drive, China has changed enormously and its extraordinary socio-economic development has turned the nation into the center of attention across the world. At present, China is the world’s third largest economy and the world’s largest producer of grains, steel, cement, raw coal, and many other vital industrial and agricultural products. People’s life has progressed from poverty to basic subsistence and further to moderate affluence, and the average life expectancy has soared from 35 in 1949 to 73 in 2005. China recorded foreign trade in excess of US$ 2.5 trillion, ranking third worldwide. Over the past thirty years, China has approved nearly 660,000 foreign investment enterprises, with actualized foreign capital amounting to US$ 899 billion. China has injected US$ 180 billion in outward direct investment in more than 170 countries and regions across the globe. Economically, China and the world have been closely linked.

The international financial crisis has exerted a severe impact on economies around the world, and China is no exception. To cope with the international financial crisis, the Chinese Government has adopted a proactive fiscal policy and a moderately flexible monetary policy, and made persistent efforts to ensure growth, adjust the economic structure and ensure people’s livelihood. In response to the international financial crisis, China has implemented an economic stimulus package featuring a massive increase in government spending and structural tax concessions, extensive adjustment of the key industries and implementation of revival initiatives, vigorous promotion of science and technology advancement and innovation, strong increase in social security and expansion of urban employment. The stimulus package has started producing results, positive factors in economic operation are increasing, and the economy has stabilized and showed more signs of improvement. In the first half of this year, China’s GDP rose 7.1 by percent year-on-year or by 0.3 percentage points from the fourth quarter of last year. The stabilization and rebound of the Chinese economy not only benefits China’s own growth, but also contributes significantly to the international community’s efforts to tackle the international financial crisis. Nevertheless, we should recognize that the momentum of the stabilization and rebound is not steady, firm, or balanced enough, and that we still face a wide range of difficulties. However, we are fully confident about and capable of overcoming all sorts of difficulties and problems on the path forward. China is currently in a phase of rapid industrialization and urbanization, and there is much room for China’s economy to maneuver, the material and technological foundation is growing stronger steadily, the combination of production factors enjoys significant advantages, the mechanisms and systems are improving all the time, and the market prospects are brilliant. All these indicate that China’s economy has strong capabilities for sustaining its stable and rapid growth. We will maintain the stability and continuity of the macro policy, comprehensively implement and constantly improve the stimulus package, and further advance China’s economic growth and social harmony and stability.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

China’s extraordinary achievements over the past three decades are largely attributed to the nation’s reform and opening-up drive. The Chinese Government will not only maintain the policy of reform and opening-up, but also further expand the reform and opening-up drive. It will not only provide a greater number of better development opportunities for overseas investors, but also encourage eligible Chinese enterprises to press ahead with outward investment and cross-border operations. At present, expanding international trade and cross-border investment is a vital way to coping with the international financial crisis and highly significant for the development of the world economy in the long run. As such, I would like to propose:

First, joining hands to put the world economy on the track to recovery. In the contemporary world, the fates of all nations are closely linked. No country can be immune to the international financial crisis, nor can it overcome the crisis single-handedly. As the crisis unfolds, deeper communication and stronger cooperation are required. Thus, it’s imperative to further strengthen the dialogue and coordination of macro economic policies, press ahead with international financial system reform, and build an equitable, fair, inclusive and orderly new international financial order. The crisis necessitates readjustments and readjustments brew opportunities. We will be able to achieve mutual benefits and win-win results as long as we join hands with each other, strengthen communication and cooperation, seize opportunities arising from the adjustment of the world economy, embark on innovative ways of cooperation in practice, enrich the contents of cooperation, improve the mechanisms of cooperation, and optimize the path of cooperation.

Second, resolutely opposing any form of trade protectionism. Protectionism benefits no one. No protectionism, in whatever form, can save a country’s economy; instead, it will only lead to a vicious cycle of retaliation, which will in turn aggravate and prolong the crisis. It’s important that we think in a more rational manner and adopt a more holistic approach to jointly resist trade and investment protectionism and preserve the openness of the international market, so that the world economy will recover and grow within the shortest time possible. China provides full support for the Doha Round negotiations to reach a balanced outcome so that a fair and open multilateral trading system can be put in place, which will inject fresh vitality into the troubled world economy.

Third, proactively promoting trade and investment facilitation. The Chinese Government has consistently supported and promoted trade and investment liberalization and facilitation. Considering the difficulty facing the world economy, it’s all the more important to promote trade and investment facilitation. Since the outbreak of the crisis, the Chinese Government has been working closely with all other nations around the world and has taken a series of measures to tackle the crisis by strengthening macro control, promoting trade and investment facilitation, advancing outward investment and