Xi vows wider ‘open door’ policy amid foreign demands for more market access
Beijing must turn words into action so all can benefit, business lobby group says
Chinese President Xi Jinping has again promised greater market access to foreign investors to shore up confidence in his country amid louder complaints from Washington to Brussels about Beijing’s protectionism.
In his marathon speech at the start of the Communist Party’s twice-a-decade national congress on Wednesday, Xi said China would significantly lower the threshold for entrance to China’s markets, protect the legal interests of foreign businesses in China, and treat locally registered companies in an equal and fair way.
“Opening leads to progress while closing only leads to backwardness,” Xi told the 2,000-plus party delegates at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. “China won’t close its opened door – the door will only be opened wider and wider.”
Xi has made similar pledges at other conferences and forums, and the commitments this time in his most important political speech so far suggests the ruling party and the state apparatus will take them more seriously.
China has already taken some steps to open its market wider to foreign players. Beijing has promised to let US credit rating agencies do businesses on their own in China and lift the ceiling for foreign holdings in financial joint ventures. It might also allow foreign electric-vehicle makers such as Tesla to set up wholly owned factories in China.
At the same time, US and European mistrust of Beijing’s promises persists. Last month US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross publicly urged Beijing to “guarantee fair and reciprocal treatment for US firms”. The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China also said in August that Beijing must take concrete steps to give fair market access to foreign firms.
In response to Xi’s speech, chamber chairman Mats Harborn said words should be followed by action.
