Dear friends from the press,

Good afternoon, welcome to the regular press conference of the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM). First of all, I have two pieces of information to release.

I. About the trade and economic cooperation with the countries along the Belt and Road in the first three quarters of 2017

The trade and economic cooperation with the countries along the Belt and Road line has achieved remarkable effects since this year. In the first three quarters of 2017. China’s trade volume with the Belt and Road countries reached up to US$785.9 billion, up 15% year on year. The Chinese enterprises’ FDI in the countries along the line amounted to US$9.6 billion and the total value of the newly signed contractual projects there amounted to US$96.72 billion, up 29.7% year on year. These countries’ investment in China reached US$4.24 billion and they established 2,893 new enterprises in China, up 34.4% year on year. Up to now, the Chinese enterprises have built 75 economic cooperation regions in 24 countries, attracting 3,412 enterprises to enter into the zone, paying the taxes of US$2.21 billion to the host countries and creating 209,000 employment positions in the local regions.

The implementation of a host of major cooperation projects is accelerated. China-Laos railway, Karakoram Highway (Phase II) and Karachi motorway are under construction. Mombasa Port-Nairobi railway starts to operate and the construction and operation of China-Russia, China-Kazakhstan and China-Myanmar crude oil pipelines are orderly launched. The construction of FTAs is accelerated. China has signed the free trade agreement with Georgia, substantially concluded the negotiations of the trade and economic cooperation agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union, and the FTA negotiations with Maldives. China has started to implement the Protocol to Amend the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation with ASEAN, accelerated the implementation of the negotiations on an upgraded China-Pakistan and China-Singapore Free Trade Area and actively launched the RCEP negotiations. All these have constantly upgraded the level and standard of the free trade.

Next, we will actively implement the trade and economic achievements reached at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation according to the deployment of the 19th CPC National Congress, strengthen policy communication and dock with countries along the Belt and Road line. We will promote the trade and economic cooperation along the Belt and Road to build a sound cooperation environment for mutual benefits and win-win situation and an open world economy, and bring tangible benefits to the countries and people along the Belt and Road line.

II. About the promotion of the experience of the first comprehensive pilot sites of open economy

According to the unified arrangement of the CPC and the State Council, the establishment of the comprehensive pilot sites has been launched in Jinan and other 11 regions since May 2016.

In June this year, based on the mid-term assessment of the third party we entrusted, and the related departments’ repeated study and extraction, 24 pieces of reproducible experience of the pilot sites are confirmed and will be promoted to the whole nation. They are the “big capital, light assets” investment attraction mode, the electronization during the enterprises’ registration process, “giving permission right after the clearance of goods” inspection and quarantine method for the exported food, collaborative open mechanism in special functional zones, innovative development mode of scientific and technological finance and the overall planning of regional development.

Take the “big capital, light assets” investment attraction mode for an example. We will set up the capital guided by industries and the industrial development fund with financial and investment organizations to use “big capital” to operate. We will provide supporting factories and staff dormitories to reduce the non-productive input of the enterprises which come from the outside. This is to shorten the construction cycle of their projects and to attract the investment by “light assets”. Another example is the exported food inspection and quarantine way which immediately follows the declaration. It means specific inspection and quarantine operation instructions will be made for specific products such as canned food, vegetables, aquatic products and processed food and the enterprises will be supervised to work out technical guides of self-inspection and self-control, foregrounding the enterprises’ main responsibility and process supervision. The inspection and quarantine departments will supervise and inspect casually.

Next, according to the deployment of the 19th CPC National Congress, MOFCOM will strengthen the instruction and coordination with the relevant departments and create conditions to steadily promote the pilot work, spread the relevant experience, and make it take root and influential all over the country. .

That’s all the information I’d like to share with you. Now I’d like to answer your questions.

Global Times: President Xi will visit Vietnam and Laos in mid-November. Could you shed some light on the state and outlook of China’s trade and economic relations with these countries? Thank you.

Gao Feng: China is a friendly close neighbor to Vietnam and Laos. In recent years, thanks to the personal interest and impetus of the leaders of the countries, China-Vietnam and China-Laos commercial cooperation has registered remarkable gains and highlights.

China-Vietnam commercial cooperation has gone deeper. First, bilateral trade grows quite fast. China’s imports from Vietnam have increased rapidly. According to Chinese statistics, bilateral trade hit US 82.32 billion in 2017 through September, up by 20.5% year-on-year, and is likely to reach US$ 100 billion for the whole year. China is the largest export market for Vietnamese farm produce, while Vietnam is also the biggest source of rice, cassava and tropical fruit imports for China.

Second, Chinese business investment in Vietnam has grown sharply. China has so far invested around US$ 15 billion in Vietnam. According to Chinese statistics, 2016 saw an additional Chinese investment of US$1.28 billion in Vietnam, up by 130%. Bilateral investment cooperation has moved onto the fast track.

Third, a number of key cooperation programs have been advanced. The two sides have signed Border Trade Agreement and the Five-year Program for Commercial Cooperation, giving a boost to the development of cross-border economic cooperation zones.

China-Laos commercial cooperation features strong complementarity with rapid growth in bilateral trade. According to Chinese statistics, this year up to September, China-Laos trade hit US$ 2.1 billion, up by 25.1% year-on-year. China is Laos’ 2nd largest trading partner. In recent years, a great many Chinese companies have invested in Laos, covering mining, electricity and agriculture, among others. As of last September, China had invested US$ 6.31 billion in Laos, making the latter China’s third largest investment destination in ASEAN countries. Lao statistics indicate that China, with 25.2% of its FDI, is the country’s largest foreign investor.

Moving forward, following the philosophy of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness, China will continue to strengthen the synergy of our development plans, actively expand bilateral trade, encourage two-way investment, and speed up the development of cross-border and border economic cooperation zones. We will steer more bilateral economic and technical cooperation towards areas of people’s livelihoods and deepen the integration of our interests by fostering common interests, promote mutual benefit and win-win, and build a community of shared future and interests. Thank you.

CCTV-4: We’ve noted that MOFCOM released on its website that the 20th round of RCEP talks produced a draft assessment to be submitted to the leaders. Does it mean significant progress for RCEP negotiations? What’s the chance of concluding the talks by the end of the year? Please specify.

Gao Feng: Immediately after the conclusion of the 20th round, the parties conducted in-depth discussions and all-round appraisal, agreeing a draft to be presented to the leaders. The negotiations have yielded some positive outcomes. Text-wise, the parties reached agreement on the chapters of SMEs and economic and technical cooperation. In terms of market access, substantive talks were held on 18 issues in three areas, namely goods, services and investment. Having agreed on key factors to major RCEP outcomes, the parties are engaged in in-depth consultations on 18 issues concerning market access, rules and cooperation.

China will work with the other parties to quicken the pace and conclude the negotiations as early as possible for a modern, comprehensive, quality and mutually beneficial RCEP deal. Thank you.

CRI: First question: the Singles Day is next week and Q4 is shopping season. What is your forecast for consumption in Q4? Second question: the USITC made a trade remedy proposal to President Trump on imported solar panels and modules to restrict related imports. What’s MOFCOM’s take? Thank you.

Gao Feng: On consumption in Q4, from the current situation, China’s consumption market has robust demand with continuously upgrading structure and strong consumption appetite, showing a healthy momentum in Q4. First, like you said, Q4 is traditionally high season for consumption. Judging from the consumption over the 8-day National Day holiday, national retail and catering businesses saw their daily sales go up by 10.3% year-on-year. Domestic tourists and tourism revenues were up by 11.9% and 13.9%. It is foreseeable that consumption will maintain aggressive growth in Q4 this year.

Second, promotions by merchants abound in Q4. Brick-and-mortar stores make all kinds of nimble and colorful offers. The Singles Day, among others, has become a key promotion point for e-commerce. Online-offline coordination and the increasingly experience-based and personalized trend will further unleash market vitality and consumption enthusiasm.

As China’s household income continues to expand and the foundation for expanded consumption solidifies, China’s consumption market will keep steady and rapid growth in Q4.

On your second question about photovoltaic products, we have noticed that on 31 October the USITC announced that four of its commissioners were ready to submit remedy recommendations in its global safeguard investigation involving imports of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells. According to relevant procedures, the USTR will hold a hearing on 6 December to hear comments from all related stakeholders. As a stakeholder to the case, the Chinese side has always been questioning the legality and necessity of the US side’s filing the case and closely following it ever since the initiation of the global safeguard investigation in May.

So far, the US side twice launched antidumping and anti-subsidy investigations into Chinese PV products in 2011 and 2014 respectively. In the first eight months of this year, the value of Chinese PV exports to the US was merely USD115 million, down by 91% year on year.

With the world economy slowly recovering, we believe that all economies need to take active measures to contribute positive energy to global economic growth. We hope that the US could make a ruling over this global safeguard case in an objective, fair and cautious manner.

China Daily: I have two questions. First, what are the plans and timetable for the nationwide rollout of the negative list system for foreign investment? Second, how’s the progress of China’s Foreign Investment Law? What are the main issues that need to be dealt with? Thanks.

Gao Feng: On your first question regarding the negative list issue. In recent years, the Chinese government has vigorously promoted the reform of the foreign investment system. We have piloted the management system of pre-establishment national treatment and negative list in 11 pilot free trade zones and have achieved marked results so far. Foreign investors can accurately, clearly and easily understand the requirements for making an investment. The time needed for establishing a foreign-funded enterprise has been shortened from one month in the past to three days at present.

Since 2013, the negative list of foreign investment in the FTZ has been revised three times. The number of restrictive measures has been reduced from 190 in the first edition to 95 now. Many of the risk-controllable pilot experiences have been extended nationwide. Areas such as operating e-commerce, edible oil processing, production of bio-liquid fuels, motorcycle manufacturing and the construction and operation of large-scale agro-products wholesale markets have all been liberalized, resulting in much more enhanced transparency and predictability.

The report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China put forward the full implementation of the pre-establishment national treatment plus negative list system of foreign investment management. This is a fundamental change in the management system of foreign investment in our country and an important measure for us to expand opening up to the outside world and make active use of foreign investment.

We will, together with the relevant departments, actively promote the management system of pre-establishment national treatment plus negative list piloted in the pilot free trade zones as soon as possible so as to further enhance the openness, transparency and normativeness of the investment environment.

On the second question about the Foreign Investment Law, presently the Ministry of Commerce has submitted the draft of the Foreign Investment Law with relevant suggestions from all sectors of the community. We will continue to actively cooperate with relevant departments such as the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council to do a good job in legislative deliberation. We hope that through formulating and promulgating the Foreign Investment Law as the new basic law for foreign investment, we will reform our foreign investment management system, fully implement the pre-establishment national treatment plus negative list system, effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of foreign investors, promote fair competition, and create a more stable, transparent and law-based business environment. Thank you.

China News Service: We have noticed that, a few days ago, China and ROK agreed to take their exchanges and cooperation in all fields back to the normal track at an early date. What measures will MOFCOM take to bring China-ROK economic cooperation and trade back on track? Thank you.

Gao Feng: China and the ROK are each other’s important economic and trade partners, with strong economic complementarities and huge development potential. China has always placed importance on and taken an active and open attitude to its bilateral economic cooperation and trade with the ROK. According to Chinese statistics, in the first nine months of this year, the China-ROK trade reached USD 202.2 billion, up by 11.4% year on year. In January this year, China and the ROK started the third round of tariff cuts according to the China-ROK FTA. In the context of sluggish global economic growth and rising trade protectionism, the steady implementation of the China-ROK FTA is positive for enhancing bilateral trade and economic ties and economic growth of the two countries. Like what we have always stressed, China-ROK trade and economic cooperation and exchanges require public support. We hope that the ROK will be as good as its words and appropriately tackle the relevant issues to create a sound environment for the sustained and healthy growth of China-ROK economic cooperation and trade. Thank you.

International Business Daily: Recently, the National People’s Congress is conducting its third review of the E-commerce Law. Mr. Spokesperson, will the law be promulgated soon? What effects will the law have on the development of e-commerce in China? What is MOFCOM’s explanation of the highlights in the draft? Thank you.

Gao Feng: As we know, the E-commerce Law reaches the second reading at the National People’s Congress. During the second reading, members of the NPC Standing Committee and the nonvoting delegates will express their opinions and the draft will be further revised and improved. The E-commerce Law is a basic law in the field of e-commerce for China, with significance in regulating and promoting the healthy development of e-commerce in China. In view of the present conditions, the E-commerce Law will make principle regulations on e-commerce issues in urgent need of solutions in China, such as the e-commerce operators, contracts, dispute settlement and promotion. The promulgation of this law will offer institutional guarantee for sustained, healthy and orderly development of e-commerce in China, thus helping e-commerce lead and drive China’s digital economy and build China into an innovative country.

We will continue to support the relevant legislative procedure of the NPC and strive for the early promulgation of the E-commerce Law. Thank you.

Due to time limits, the last question, please.

21st Century Business Herald: Guangdong, Fujian, Shanghai, Zhejiang ad other localities recently said that they wanted to build free trade ports. How does MOFCOM view the enthusiasm of localities to build free trade ports? In addition, some free trade pilot zones have already set targets of building free trade ports. What is the difference between the previous and current free trade ports? Thank you.

Gao Feng: The report of the 19th Party Congress stated that China will explore the opening of free trade ports. This is an important move to make new ground in pursuing opening up on all fronts. This will require us to follow higher standards, launch new pilot programs and further open up. At the present, free trade ports in other countries are usually located outside the customs and within the boundary of a country or region, allowing goods, funds and personnel to enter and exit freely. The majority of goods are tariff free. It is the special economic zone with the highest degree of openness in the world.

You have mentioned that the localities are enthusiastic. I think this further demonstrates that China will adopt a more open approach to embrace globalization and trade and investment liberalization at both central and local levels. China will not close its door to the world; we will only become more and more open. We will orderly advance all relevant work according to the arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. Thank you.

Today’s press conference is concluded. Thank you.