Report on the Work of the Government

9. Striving to improve the opening up policy

China has entered a new stage of opening up in which the position and role of imports and exports as well as two-way investment have profoundly changed. We must adapt to changing circumstances, adopt new ways of thinking about our external economic work, change the mode of China's external economic growth, open China's economy wider and bring about a new phase in China's open economy.

We will maintain steady growth in foreign trade. While expanding domestic demand is crucial, we can never overlook the importance of external demand in China's economic development. We will maintain general continuity in China's foreign trade policy. We will continue to implement the export tax rebate policy; increase trade financing and credit insurance; ensure that customs, quality inspectors, and foreign exchange authorities improve their supervision and services; and help enterprises overcome difficulties and pressures resulting from falling orders, rising costs, and increasing trade friction. We will speed up transformation of the way we develop foreign trade. We will fully implement the strategy of boosting trade through upgrading technologies, improving quality, and diversifying markets. We will support enterprises in building their own brands, marketing networks, and R&D centers, and guide our processing trade to move up the industrial chain and shift to the central and western regions. We will consolidate traditional markets in the United States, Japan, and Europe and open up emerging markets. We will keep labor-intensive exports stable, expand the export of high-tech and high-value-added products, and limit the export of goods whose production is energy intensive and highly polluting. We will work hard to promote trade in services and undertake more services outsourced by other countries. We will adopt guidelines to increase imports and promote trade balance, improve import policies, build more platforms to promote imports, and work for balanced growth of exports and imports.

We will improve the use of foreign capital. We will adhere to the policy of actively and effectively utilizing foreign capital and give greater importance to optimizing its structure and raising its quality. We will implement the newly revised Proposed List of Industries for Foreign Investment, and encourage more foreign investment in advanced manufacturing, new and high technologies, energy conservation, environmental protection, new service industries, and the central and western regions.

We will implement the "go global" strategy. With China's outward investment in an important stage of accelerated development, we will enhance macro-guidance, increase policy support, streamline approval procedures, and improve services for Chinese investors. We will guide Chinese enterprises under various forms of ownership in making overseas investments, mergers and acquisitions in energy, raw materials, agriculture, manufacturing, service industries, and infrastructure in an orderly manner. We will explore new models for overseas economic and trade cooperation zones, and support companies making overseas investments in coordinating their growth and forming clusters. We will standardize development of cooperative overseas labor services. Restrictions on individuals investing overseas will be relaxed. We will strengthen risk management of overseas investments and protect the safety of employees and assets of Chinese enterprises operating overseas.

We will participate in global economic governance and regional cooperation. We will strive to maintain steady growth of China's economic and trade relations with developed countries and comprehensively deepen mutually beneficial cooperation with developing countries. We will continue to promote development of free trade zones and regional economic integration. We will actively participate in building mechanisms for global economic governance such as the G20, strengthen coordination with major economies on macroeconomic policy, oppose protectionism in all its forms, and continue to play a constructive role in the Doha Round of trade talks and the reform of the international financial system.