China to remove barriers for foreign firms: Li Qiang
Premier Li Qiang on Sunday said China is ready to increase market access to overseas investors and companies. Speaking at the China Development Forum to an audience of global CEOs and domestic policymakers, Li said Beijing would carefully study issues of market access and cross-border data flows and would soon issue relevant regulations in these areas. China is pushing to develop emerging industries such as biological manufacturing and would step up the development of artificial intelligence and big data, Li said. The premier added China's inflation rate and the central government's debt burden were relatively low, leaving room for further macro policy measures. He said policies rolled out last year to defuse property and debt risks were effective. Li cited 1 trillion yuan in previously announced ultra long special treasury bonds as one of these policy measures. These would continue to spur investment and stabilise economic growth, he said. The two-day forum is being held at a time when the country faces multiple headwinds, from a property crisis, local government debt woes, and industrial overcapacity to deflationary risks and cooling foreign investment. Reuters reported last week that the Premier does not intend to hold a meeting with foreign CEOs at the forum this year. But the Wall Street Journal reported last Thursday that President Xi Jinping would meet a group of US business leaders on Wednesday. (Reuters)