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BUSINESSMonday 21 March 2016
Chinese planner promises foreign companies access to markets
JOE McDONALD Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, left, shakes hands with former U.S. Secretary of State Henry dent of the U.S.-China Busi-
AP Business Writer ness Council, said in an in-
BEIJING (AP) — China’s Kissinger after the opening ceremony of the China Development Forum at the Diaoyutai State terview last week.
top planner tried to reas- Companies are getting
sure foreign companies Guesthouse in Beijing, Sunday, March 20, 2016. Associated Press “mixed signals” from Chi-
they are welcome in its nese regulators, said Fris-
slowing, state-dominated these growth opportunities the start of the ruling Com- nomic role, but business bie. “That uncertainty is
economy in a speech Sun- with you,” said Xu, chair- munist Party’s latest five- groups say regulators are weakening business confi-
day aimed at dispelling man of the Cabinet’s Na- year development plan trying to shield Chinese ri- dence.”
growing anxiety Beijing tional Reform and Devel- that runs through 2020. Ex- vals from competition or Meanwhile, Chinese lead-
is squeezing them out of opment Commission. ecutives are eager to learn compel foreign compa- ers also are trying to restore
promising industries. The China Development details of how the party nies to hand overtechnolo- faith in their ability as eco-
Speaking to an audience Forum 2016 is being closely might carry out pledges to gy in exchange for market nomic managers following
that included executives watched by global com- make the economy more access. a stock market collapse
of top global companies panies because it comes at competitive, open more Business groups say Beijing and currency turmoil. Se-
at a government-orga- industries to private and has yet to carry out most nior officials including Pre-
nized conference, Xu Sha- possibly foreign competi- of the reforms promised in mier Li Keqiang have spent
oshi pledged to “promote tors and to shrink bloated, a separate 2013 plan that the past month making an
two-way opening up and money-losing industries in- called for giving market unusually prominent se-
liberalization.” cluding coal, steel and ce- forces a “decisive role” in ries of statements that the
Xu promised foreign com- ment. the economy. They point economy is on track and
panies equal treatment The guest list for the week- to limits on foreign owner- trying to dispel fears Beijing
with local enterprises as end conference at a gov- ship in an array of indus- might weaken its yuan to
Beijing carries out a sweep- ernment guesthouse in the tries and say in some areas boost exports.
ing overhaul aimed at Chinese capital included such as information secu- On Sunday, Xu announced
promoting self-sustaining executives of U.S., Europe- rity technology for banks no new initiatives but prom-
growth based on domes- an and Asian banks, man- regulators are reducing or ised to make “markets
tic consumption and mak- ufacturers, Internet and blocking market access. more open, more efficient
ing state companies that other companies. “The big question is wheth- and more sustainable.”
dominate a range of indus- The ruling party’s plan er foreign companies will Xu promised to reduce
tries more competitive and promises to give the pri- be able to access that “regional and industrial
efficient. vate sector a bigger eco- growth,” John Frisbie, presi- monopolies,” a reference
“We are ready to share to repeated promises to
cut back the dominance
of state companies in in-
dustries including banking,
energy and telecoms that
reform advocates com-
plain are a drag on the
economy.Reform advo-
cates complain the ruling
party is dragging its feet
on carrying out promises
to open more industries to
private competition. The
party has given itself until
2018 to show the first results
from its overhaul of state
industry but reformers say
with growth falling steadily,
they need to act faster.
Last year’s economic
growth fell to a 25-year
low of 6.9 percent and
forecasters including the
International Monetary
Fund say it will decline fur-
ther. This year’s official tar-
get is 6.5 to 7 percent, but
the IMF and others say it is
more likely to fall as low as
6.3 percent.Beijing wants
to promote “new growth
drivers” and encourage
“mass innovation” in ar-
eas such as clean energy,
medical technology and
artificial intelligence, Xu
said. He promised to “low-
er the threshold” for entre-
preneurs to get into promis-
ing new fields.q
