Speech by H.E. Ambassador Liu Xiaoming at the HSBC Chinese New Year Lunch: Gather Our Confidence to Deliver Abundant Outcomes

Third, China's contribution to world economy was substantial.

China is expected to account for more than 16% of the world's GDP in 2019. We contributed more than 30% to world economic growth, being the biggest contributor for 14 years in a row. China remained the most powerful locomotive driving economic growth in the world.

A number of economic and trade cooperation zones were set up in countries along the Belt and Road Initiative, where Chinese companies invested $35 billion in total, paid more than $3 billion in tax and fees to host countries, and created 320,000 jobs for the local communities.

In 2019, China-UK economic and trade cooperation also witnessed fruitful outcomes. Bilateral trade in goods exceeded $86 billion. This has more than doubled the trade figure of ten years ago. Two-way investment also grew steadily. The UK is now China's largest investment destination and the second largest source of investment in the EU.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

The year 2020 is a milestone for China. In this year, China will achieve its first centenary goal, namely, to complete the building of a moderately prosperous society in all aspects. It will then embark on a new journey of building a modern socialist country in all aspects.

In face of the complexity and volatility of the global economy, China will continue to follow the new concept of "innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development". Our objective is high-quality economic growth. We want to deepen integration with the global technological chain, industrial chain, innovation chain and value chain. We will contribute more positive energy to the world economy.

China's consumer market will continue to move up the value chain, expand in capacity and grow faster. This will create more space and opportunities for businesses from other countries, including the UK. How to seize these opportunities and take full advantage of them? I would like to suggest three C's.

The first C stands for confidence. Businesses should increase confidence in their cooperation with China.

China's economy will maintain steady growth for a long time to come. This overall trend has not changed because China enjoys

the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China,

solid foundation after years of sustained economic growth,

a huge market and enormous potential in domestic demand,

and rich human resources and a large talent pool.

Earlier this month, China and the US reached the phase-one economic and trade agreement. This agreement is in line with market and business rules as well as WTO rules. It is beneficial to China, to the US, and to the whole world.

I want to reiterate that, going forward, China will continue to open its market wider to the world. We will lower overall tariff. We will accelerate the opening up of the financial market. We will encourage and strengthen the protection of foreign investment and shorten the negative list for market access. These measures will foster a better environment for businesses from all over the world, including the UK and other European countries, to invest in China.

Closer cooperation is the trend of our times. It is my hope that you will have greater confidence in your cooperation with China and seize the opportunities of China's economic growth.

The second C stands for creativity. There are new areas and ideas of China-UK cooperation waiting for creative businesses to explore.

Both China and the UK value creativity. Both our two countries are good at seizing opportunities. Our governments have issued a number of policies and established many platforms for business cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiative and on financial services.

In Belt and Road cooperation, China and the UK are natural partners. British businesses lead the whole world in financial, legal and professional services. Chinese companies are strong in infrastructure, connectivity and financing.

I hope the business communities of our two countries will always be creative and dare to think and take actions. There are ample opportunities for cooperation in digital economy, science, technology and innovation, green finance, inclusive finance, Fintech and in third markets. I am sure you are capable of contributing new driving forces and new vitality to China-UK business cooperation.