The Ministry of Commerce held a regular press conference at 15: 00 on Thursday, March 28th, 2024. He Yadong, deputy director and spokesperson of the Policy Research Office of the Ministry of Commerce, attended, introduced relevant information and answered media questions.
The following is a transcript of the press conference.
He yadong
Dear journalists and friends,
Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the regular press conference of the Ministry of Commerce. Today, I have a message to tell you first.
This information is about the sixth ministerial meeting of the China-Portugal Forum.
The Sixth Ministerial Meeting of the China-Portugal Forum will be held in Macau on April 21-23, 2024, and government delegations from China and Portuguese-speaking countries will attend the meeting.
The main activities of this ministerial meeting include the opening ceremony, the ministerial meeting, the signing ceremony of the Action Plan for Economic and Trade Cooperation (2024-2027), and the China-Portuguese-speaking Countries Entrepreneur Conference. The ministerial meeting will define the key areas of economic and trade cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries in the next three years, and further develop Macao’s role as a service platform for economic and trade cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries.
The China-Portugal Forum was founded in October 2003 in Macau, hosted by the Central People’s Government of China and the Macao Special Administrative Region Government, with the participation of nine Portuguese-speaking countries including Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Portugal, Sao Tome and Principe and Timor-Leste. The China-Portugal Forum aims to play the role of Macao as a platform to contact China and Portuguese-speaking countries, strengthen exchanges and cooperation in trade, investment and other fields between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, and promote the common development of China and Portuguese-speaking countries.
Since the establishment of the China-Portugal Forum, five ministerial meetings and one special ministerial meeting have been successfully held. The holding of this ministerial meeting will inject new momentum into deepening economic and trade cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, and bring new opportunities to enhance Macao’s international influence and promote moderate and diversified economic development.
The above is the information I want to inform you, and I would like to answer the questions raised by journalists and friends.
Phoenix TV reporter
At present, China’s economic recovery continues to consolidate and strengthen, and many foreign executives come to China for inspection, which is another "visit to China fever". We have noticed that the leaders of the Ministry of Commerce have recently met with executives of multinational companies intensively. Could you please tell us the main information of these meetings?
He yadong
Recently, the leaders of the Ministry of Commerce met with the global leaders of more than 20 multinational companies, including Apple, Qualcomm and Mercedes-Benz, covering medicine, automobile, food, finance, cosmetics, electronic information, chemical energy and other fields. Multinational companies from all walks of life visited China intensively, feeling the strong spring of China’s economic recovery, and showing the strong "magnetic attraction" of the China market.
During the exchange, we introduced China’s policies and measures to unswervingly promote high-level opening up and continuously optimize the business environment, as well as the investment opportunities brought by accelerating the development of new quality productive forces. We welcome multinational companies to actively participate in the construction of modern industrial systems and achieve greater and better development in China. Executives of multinational companies have expressed optimism about the market prospects in China and will continue to invest in China. For example, Apple said that China is an important market and key supply chain partner because of its rich human resources and strong innovation vitality. Apple will continue to increase its investment in China’s supply chain, R&D and sales. WACKER Chemical Company said that it will firmly invest in China to help the green and low-carbon transformation of chemical, automobile, energy and other industries.
Generally speaking, multinational companies are still full of confidence in "investing in China", which is also confirmed by the increase of 34.9% in the number of newly established foreign-invested enterprises in China in January and February this year. China continues to rise to a higher level in the openurl world. Choosing China is to choose opportunities; Investing in China means investing in the future. The Ministry of Commerce will, as always, welcome enterprises from all over the world to invest in China and share the dividends of China’s high-quality development. Thank you.
China news service reporter
We have noticed that the Ministry of Commerce issued an announcement to cancel the double-reaction measures against Australian wines. Could the spokesman tell us something about it? What are your expectations for the next step?
He yadong
With the joint efforts of both sides, China and Australia have reached a consensus on properly resolving WTO disputes under the framework of the WTO.
On November 30, 2023, the Ministry of Commerce initiated a review investigation on the double-reverse measures of Australian wine at the request of the Australian Grape and Wine Association. Subsequently, the investigation procedure was promoted according to law, and the opinions and evidence of all interested parties were comprehensively reviewed. On March 28, 2024, the ruling announcement was officially issued. In view of the changes in the related wine market in China, anti-dumping duties and countervailing duties were no longer imposed on imported related wines originating in Australia.
China and Australia are important trading partners of each other. We are willing to work with Australia to resolve mutual concerns through dialogue and consultation and jointly promote the stable and healthy development of bilateral economic and trade relations. Thank you.
Economic information daily reporter
Recently, the Ministry of Commerce and other nine departments issued the Guiding Opinions on Promoting the High-quality Development of the Catering Industry. What are the main considerations for the Ministry of Commerce to issue the Guiding Opinions with relevant departments this time? What are the work arrangements for the next step?
He yadong
As the saying goes, food is the most important thing for people. Catering is an important field of traditional consumption, which plays an important role in promoting consumption, benefiting people’s livelihood and stabilizing employment. China’s catering revenue accounts for more than 10% of the total retail sales of consumer goods, and the number of catering business entities exceeds 10 million, which is of great significance to promote the high-quality development of the catering industry.
Recently, the Ministry of Commerce and other nine departments jointly issued the Guiding Opinions on Promoting the High-quality Development of the Catering Industry. The Guiding Opinions put forward 22 specific policy measures from seven aspects, including improving the quality of catering services, innovating catering consumption scenarios, enhancing the development momentum of catering industry, promoting excellent catering culture, promoting green development, optimizing the business environment of catering industry, and strengthening organizational guarantee.
In the next step, the Ministry of Commerce will work with relevant departments and localities to implement it. The first is to improve the working mechanism. Refine the implementation measures, track the implementation results, and work with relevant departments to promote the resolution of difficulties and blocking points in the process of policy implementation. The second is to build a platform carrier. Cultivate a number of Chinese food blocks, guide the local development of community catering, elderly catering, local specialty catering, rural leisure catering and other formats, and innovate the consumption scene of the catering industry. The third is to enhance the development momentum. Improve the catering industry standard system, promote the digital empowerment of catering, and actively promote the "going out" of Chinese food. The fourth is to strengthen publicity and guidance. Resolutely stop the waste of catering industry, summarize and promote the effective practices and typical experiences of promoting the high-quality development of catering industry in various places, and create a good social atmosphere. Thank you.
Shenzhen Satellite TV reporter
Dutch Prime Minister Ruyt paid a working visit to China this week, which is his second visit to China after five years. Did the two sides discuss the export of Holland and mask aligner to China during this visit?
He yadong
This year marks the tenth anniversary of the establishment of an open and pragmatic all-round cooperative partnership between China and the Netherlands. In the past ten years, China has become the third largest trading partner of the Netherlands, which is an important source of foreign investment and destination of foreign investment in China. Strengthening cooperation between the two countries in various fields, including the semiconductor industry, is beneficial to China and the Netherlands, to China and Europe, and to maintaining the stability of the global semiconductor industry chain supply chain. Thank you.
Bloomberg reporter
China initiated a lawsuit in the WTO, aiming at the US regulations that prevent electric vehicle manufacturers from purchasing battery materials from China. What is the purpose of China?
He yadong
In the name of "coping with climate change" and "low-carbon environmental protection", the United States promulgated the Inflation Reduction Law and its detailed rules for implementation, and formulated a discriminatory subsidy policy on the premise of using products from specific regions such as the United States, which distorted fair competition, seriously disrupted the global industrial chain and supply chain of new energy vehicles and violated relevant WTO rules. The Chinese prosecution is not only a legitimate move to safeguard the interests of Chinese new energy automobile enterprises and the fair competition environment of the global new energy automobile industry, but also to firmly defend the multilateral trading system based on rules and resolutely safeguard the stability of the global industrial chain and supply chain of new energy vehicles. Thank you.