Political Lens

Premier underscores need to boost trade in services

Premier Li Qiang chaired a study session of the State Council, China's Cabinet, on Tuesday, emphasizing the need to take solid steps to promote the high-quality development of trade in services, in order to provide strong support for the nation's efforts to build new systems for a higher-level open economy.

Li noted that while China's services trade sector has developed rapidly in recent years, it still lags behind world-leading standards. Given the changing external environment and the readjustments in China's industrial structure, accelerating innovation in the sector must be prioritized, he added.

He underlined the need to proactively expand imports of high-quality services and foster high-quality development in China's services sector with high-standard opening-up.

The premier called for advancing institutional opening-up in services trade, aligning with international high-standard economic and trade rules, and creating an environment conducive to service imports. It is important to drive the growth of the nation's services industry through service imports, and support Chinese service enterprises in enhancing their capabilities in market competition, he said.

Li also highlighted the importance of leveraging China's comparative advantages to enhance the international competitiveness of service exports.

Vice-president meets with special envoy of ROK leader

Vice-President Han Zheng met with Park Byeong-seug, special envoy of the president of the Republic of Korea, on Tuesday in Beijing.

Han said that China is willing to work with the ROK to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, consolidate strategic mutual trust, expand common interests, enhance multilateral coordination, and promote the sustained, healthy and stable development of bilateral ties.

Noting that this year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) and the World Anti-Fascist War, as well as the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Korean Peninsula, Han said that China is ready to work with the international community, including the ROK, to jointly safeguard the outcomes of the victory in World War II and uphold true multilateralism.

Park said the new ROK government attaches great importance to its relations with China and respects the one-China principle.

Under the guidance of the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, the ROK is willing to bring the strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries back on track for the benefit of the people of both countries, he added.

Xinhua - China Daily