China ready to further open up economy

BEIJING: China's number two leader Li Qiang said on Sunday that his country was willing to help expand the global 'trade pie' by further opening up, state media reported, while he slammed unilateralism from certain countries.
Many of China's key trading partners have increasingly called on Beijing to reduce its soaring trade surplus owing to its impact on local competition.
Its trade surged by a fifth in the first two months of the year, official data showed earlier this month, significantly outpacing forecasts.
China 'will steadfastly advance high-level opening up, import more high-quality foreign goods and work alongside all parties to promote the optimised and balanced development of trade', Premier Li Qiang told business executives in Beijing on Sunday, according to Xinhua.
Li was speaking at the opening of the annual China Development Forum, attended this year by prominent business leaders including Apple CEO Tim Cook.
The Chinese premier added that Beijing would work with other countries to 'join forces to make the global economic and trade pie larger for everyone'.
He slammed growing unilateralism and protectionism, which he said was 'no panacea for resolving problems'.
Beijing has been seeking to steer a shaky economy onto a more stable path since the end of the pandemic, particularly by boosting consumption.
It had been locked in a blistering trade war last year with Washington after President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on countries including China.
The recent trade boost is a lifeline for China, the world's second-largest economy, as domestic consumer activity has slumped and adds to the record surplus achieved last year.
The China Development Forum convenes as the Middle East war, triggered by US and Israeli strikes on Iran, rages on.
Tehran has retaliated with strikes across the region and beyond in a conflict that has threatened global energy security as well as China's oil supplies.
Li told the Chinese officials and global business executives the international rules-based order was suffering 'severe disruption' with power politics 'running rampant'.
In a separate ​speech at the forum, China's central bank governor Pan Gongsheng also sought to alleviate concerns surrounding the trade surplus.
'Analysing global economic imbalances requires looking not only at trade in goods but also services, and not only at the current account but also the financial account,' Pan said, according to a transcript of his speech published by the People's Bank of China, adding that China is the country with the largest ‌goods surplus but also the largest services deficit.
China has no need and no intention to gain trade competitive advantage through currency ​depreciation, Pan said.
China is working to reverse a decline in foreign direct investment, which fell 5.7 per cent year-on-year to ​just over ‌92 ⁠billion yuan ($13.36 billion) in January, following a 9.5 per cent drop over the course of 2025. In December, China added 200 sectors to a list of those eligible for foreign investment incentives, from tax breaks to preferential land use, with a focus on advanced manufacturing, modern services ​and green and high-tech sectors.
Li said foreign firms would be treated in the same ⁠way as domestic ones, ​allowing enterprises from all countries to develop with confidence and realise their ambitions in China. In a separate meeting, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao told business leaders from a U.S. pharmaceutical trade group and executives from five major multinational drug companies that China will strengthen intellectual property protection and improve policy transparency.
Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook in a keynote speech said that the company would continue ​to work with Chinese suppliers to further advance the industry, state media reported. — Agencies