Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi delivered a speech at the board conference of the Entrepreneur Committee of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in St. Petersburg, June 10, 2007. She said that China expects to promote regional prosperity and development by deepening the pragmatic cooperation.
Since the establishment of the SCO six years ago its members have deepened friendship and achieved remarkable fruits of mutually beneficial cooperation. Regional economic cooperation within the organization has entered into a new period of pragmatic cooperation, said Wu.
She noted that opening up has been a basic national policy of China over the past 3 decades. China opens to the outside world comprehensively in a wide range of areas and at multiple levels. The Chinese economy has deeply integrated into the world economy. As the third largest trader in the world, China has become a link of the global supply chain and component of the world market. China faithfully honors its commitment to the World Trade Organization and has adopted various measures including cutting import tariff, relaxing market access and improving customs declaration efficiency to encourage import and create favorable conditions for foreign products to enter the Chinese market. It has become one of the developing economies in the world with the most open market. China has trade relations with more than 200 countries and regions and is building 11 free trade zones. By the end of 2006 those countries and regions have invested in nearly 600,000 projects in China and the foreign capital China actually used exceeded US$700 billion.
Wu pointed out that the Chinese government attaches great importance to the regional economic cooperation within the SCO. China's trade volume with other members of the SCO amounted to US$45.2 billion in 2006, up 273% over 2001 when the organization was set up. China's investment in other members covers many areas including energy, transportation, communication, machinery and electronics and light industry. It also offers assistance to them in such fields as agricultural development, environmental protection and capacity building. China suggests improving the trade and investment environment under the guidance of government, deepening economic and trade partnership by making breakthroughs in network project, increasing input, encouraging the participation of businesses with the goal of achieving common development and strengthening the dynamism of regional economic cooperation.
Wu stressed that China adheres to the policy of being a good neighbor and a good partner guiding its relations with neighbors and stands ready to make joint efforts with other SCO members to push forward the regional economic cooperation based on mutual benefit and achieve common prosperity of all countries in the region.
On the same day, Wu also attended the plenary session of the 11th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum held in St. Petersburg, Russia. Also present at the forum were Russian President Putin, other heads of state and government of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), senior government officials of some other countries, heads of a large number of international organizations and more than 100 multinational companies. 200 plus delegates from nearly 100 Chinese companies attended related activities of the forum. It is the largest ever Chinese delegation to a foreign forum and a major event at the national level held under the framework of the "Year of China" in Russia.
The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is the biggest economic forum in the CIS and Central and Eastern Europe. The forum will hold a series of roundtable meetings on energy cooperation, knowledge economy, technological innovation, financial cooperation and regional investment.
