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Premier Li Keqiang on Jan 21 thanked foreign experts working in China for their contribution to the country's modernization drive.

"What China has achieved in its reform and opening-up should be attributed not only to the hard work of the Chinese people, but also to the wisdom and painstaking efforts of the foreign experts," Li said during a meeting.

"The Chinese people will never forget this," he said.

Apart from expressing his gratitude to the overseas experts, Li also sought their ideas on China's economic development and urbanization.

He also briefed his 70-plus foreign guests on the latest economic situation.

Li said the government has always made developing the economy and improving people's livelihoods a priority for its work.

China achieved its annual goals for economic and social development set at the start of last year thanks to its efforts in maintaining growth, and reform and in improving economic restructuring, he said.

China-UK trade hits record high

China-UK bilateral trade reached a record high in 2013, surpassing $70 billion, the Chinese ambassador to the UK said on Jan 21 at a business gathering.

"UK's exports to China increased by 13.8 percent, much higher than China's other EU trade partners," said Ambassador Liu Xiaoming during a reception hosted by the 48 Group Club to celebrate the upcoming Chinese lunar new year.

"Our relations have come to a fresh start. We face great opportunities that have never been seen before," said Liu, disclosing that Chinese investment in the UK over the past two years reached $13 billion, exceeding the total of the previous three decades.

"The two countries' leaders reached a broad consensus on pushing forward the bilateral relationship and expanding cooperation. China and the UK working together will benefit our people and contribute to global peace and development," said Liu.

He added that the UK and China had entered a new era in bilateral relations with such significant Chinese investment. Chinese company Dalian Wanda Group was granted a special award for its UK investment with two deals last year - investing 700 million pounds (about $1.15 billion) in the development of a five-star hotel near the river Thames, and spending 320 million pounds (about $527.27 million) on a 92 percent share of Sunseeker Yachts.

Strategy for growthin 'reasonable range'

Premier Li Keqiang has pledged that China will implement concrete policies and obtain tangible results in economic reform this year.

He told economists and business leaders that to keep the economy running within "a well-defined reasonable range" the country will continue to use the strategy that helped it to maintain growth last year.

Li made the remarks at a seminar where the government sought opinions from experts and corporate leaders on the State Council's annual Government Work Report.

He is expected to deliver the report, which wraps up his work in the first year as premier and maps out major economic policies for this year, at the session of the National People's Congress, the top legislature, usually held in March.

Balanced capital flow a step closer

China is moving nearer to a long sought-after goal of achieving balanced capital flows, with a commerce official saying the country's outbound direct investment will soon exceed foreign direct investment in the country.

"Maybe this year, or in two years, China's outbound direct investment will exceed its FDI," Commerce Ministry spokesman Shen Danyang said on Jan 16.

Last year the value of China's ODI was more than $20 billion less than its FDI, the ministry said.

ODI and FDI do not include investment in financial sectors.

Shen said achieving balanced capital flows will be good for the world as well as for China's commercial cooperation with other economies.

FDI rose 5.25 percent year-on-year to $117.59 billion last year, and ODI rose 16.8 percent to $90.17 billion, both growth rates being better than the global average, Shen said.

The government is looking at the timing for scrapping limits on foreign investment and opening up more sectors following comprehensive reform plans outlined at a high-level economic meeting late last year.

Xi writes to Chinese students in Germany

President Xi Jinping has written an open letter to Chinese students in Germany urging them to study hard and contribute to their homeland and fellow citizens in the future.

Analysts said Xi sent a positive signal to attract more overseas-educated talent back home but urged the government to upgrade talent management policies to help those who return gain employment.

Xi said he was delighted when Chinese students in Germany wrote to him, saying they pay close attention to what is happening in China.

He urged all Chinese students in Germany to put their beliefs in patriotism, hard work and innovation into practice and return to their homeland with their knowledge and skills.

In 2011, 22,800 Chinese students were enrolled in German universities, accounting for nearly 10 percent of the country's international students, says the German Academic Exchange Service, a joint organization of German institutions of higher education.

President to attend Winter Olympics

President Xi Jinping is to attend the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, on Feb 6, making him the first Chinese president to travel overseas for a major sports event.

Xi also visited Russia last year after becoming president.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said "mutual support is an important feature of China-Russia relations".

In 2008, then Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin, now the country's president, attended the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games.

Xi's trip to Sochi, at Putin's invitation, "fully shows China's support of Russia and reflects friendship between the two heads of state", Hong said.

He wished the Sochi Winter Olympics, being held from Feb 7 to 23, "full success".

Danish minister tours Beijing on her bicycle

Danish Transport Minister Pia Olsen Dyhr began her three-day visit to China in Monday's morning rush hour by riding a red bicycle from the hotel she stayed in to the Danish embassy in Beijing, a city plagued by traffic congestion and air pollution.

The minister traversed Beijing by bicycle to promote green transportation in a modern metropolis.

The entire visiting Danish delegation, Danish Ambassador to China Friis Arne Petersen, and about 20 Chinese netizens who volunteered, joined the 10-minute ride.

"It is not chilly compared to Denmark. ... I could go biking the rest of the day," she told a news conference in the embassy, adding she has gotten used to commuting by bicycle.

The minister said the country, which also has traffic jams during morning rush hour and in the afternoon, aims to be totally fossil-fuel free by 2050.

China Daily-Xinhua

(China Daily European Weekly 01/24/2014 page2)