TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2003
China to import goods worth $1 trn in 3 yrs
PTI
BEIJING: China's imports will zoom to $1 trillion in next three years, generating huge opportunities for foreign enterprises, China's new Commerce Minister Lu Fuyuan has said.
Addressing the China Development Forum that opened here Lu said the enormous amount of imports would bring about abundant opportunities for the world's business circles.
Lu, first minister to head the newly established ministry of commerce, said China's booming market would maintain its potential in the next two decades.
China registered an increased import of $51.7 billion last year. Imports from Asia alone rose by 29.3 per cent, Lu said on Sunday.
Over 34,000 foreign enterprises settled in China last year, a year-on-year increase of 30.7 per cent.
Lu said his ministry would adopt a more open strategy to promote foreign trade and create a favourable environment for foreign investors.
At the same time, a number of important steps would be taken to rectify and regulate market order within a month, he said.
He said China will promulgate an anti-monopoly law and anti-regional protection law soon and a national meeting on rectifying and regulating market order will be held in April.
The Chinese parliament approved the reorganisation of the government earlier in march. Two former ministries responsible for internal and external trade respectively were scrapped and the ministry of commerce was founded in their place.
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