Chinese Vice Premier calls on Asian countries to endorse globalization and open economy

Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli has called on Asian countries to endorse open economies as he addressed the 2017 conference of the China-sponsored Boao Forum for Asia on Saturday.

As CRI's Ding Heng reports, the call is part of China's efforts to promote free trade and globalization amid a perceived rise in protectionism in the world today.

This year's Boao Forum for Asia comes as the continent, a concentrated area for developing countries, is on course to become a key engine for the world economy.

Forecasts from the IMF have put the growth of Asian economies in 2017 at 6.4-percent, 3 percentage points higher than the estimated for global growth.

According to Thomson Reuters, companies from Asia account for more than 40 percent of the 100 most innovative firms in the world.

Vice Premier, Zhang Gaoli, says it is globalization that has made Asia what it is today.

"Looking at the rapid development of Asia over the past several decades, it was actually a history of participating in globalization. We have been embracing globalization, instead of opposing it. We have been an active participant in free trade. We have benefited enormously from this process. Of course in return we have also contributed to it."

But Asia is not without challenges.

One problem, in the eyes of economists, is a lack of policy coordination amid the huge regional differences within the continent.

Economists have also warned that exports, Asia's traditional strength sustained by cheap labor, are losing competitiveness against the backdrop of a reshuffle of the global supply chain.

Days ahead of Donald Trump's swearing-in in January, Chinese President Xi Jinping made it clear that China was committed to free trade and globalization in a speech delivered at this year's Davos Forum.

The message in the speech won recognition from many politicians across the world, including Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who said he agreed with President Xi during a face-to-face talk with visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Canberra on Friday.

Harking back to Xi Jinping's Davos address on Saturday, Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli called on Asian countries to join hands and accelerate economic integration in the region, something he sees as a solution to challenges facing Asian economies.

"This year's marks the 50th anniversary since the birth of ASEAN. The cooperation mechanism among the ASEAN, China, South Korea and Japan is also 20 years old. We also have initiatives to strengthen cooperation in East Asia and countries along the Lancang-Mekong River. We are at a new start, with so many opportunities. So, let's push these programs forward. Let's push forward an upgrade of the free trade agreement, say, between China and ASEAN."

China's efforts to promote free trade and globalization, however, are taken with a grain salt by some observers, who suggest China is still imposing protection measures on many of the sectors in the country.

Zhang Gaoli pledged China, as the biggest economic player in Asia, will only open its doors wider

"China is committed to improving its environment for foreign investors. We will surely further ease the restrictions on foreign investment in the service sector, manufacturing sector, and mining sector. We will support foreign-invested businesses to go public and issue bonds in our domestic equity markets. On things such as business licenses and the qualification to sell products or services to government agencies, domestic and foreign-invested businesses will be treated the same."

Zhang says China is planning to import some 8 trillion US dollars worth of goods, and attract foreign investments worth 600 billion dollars, over the next five years.

For CRI, this is Ding Heng.