"China will further expand opening-up to the outside world." Premier Li Keqiang emphasized this at the State Council Executive Meeting held on August 16.

On the same day, the meeting heard a report on the implementation of policies to promote foreign trade growth and discussed measures to stabilize and improve import and export trade. In the report, officials from the Ministry of Commerce reviewed the progress of implementing policies and measures to promote the stable growth of foreign trade since 2013. The Development Research Center of the State Council, as a third-party institution, submitted an assessment report on the implementation of relevant policies.

The meeting pointed out that in the face of the complex and severe international market environment, all regions and departments have implemented the national series of policies to promote the stable growth, quality improvement and efficiency enhancement of foreign trade, achieving positive results, and China's external economy has maintained sustained development. However, current external demand remains weak, and there are many factors restricting foreign trade growth. In the next step, efforts should be intensified to implement existing policies and promote the stabilization and recovery of foreign trade.

Premier Li Keqiang stated that China has been deeply integrated into the world economy, and this integration process has also been a process of continuous benefit. "We must continue to expand opening-up to enhance national strength and international competitiveness," the Premier said.

Reform and Opening-Up Is the Most Distinctive Feature of Contemporary China

On July 22 this year, at the "1+6" Roundtable Meeting where Premier Li Keqiang met with the heads of six major international institutions, the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) expressed deep concern about the current development of global trade: in 2015, the growth rate of global trade hit the lowest level in nearly 30 years. More worrying is that many countries have shown a tendency to resist globalization and multilateralism, trade protectionism has been "on the rise," and trade barriers have been increasing in many countries and regions.

Such an external environment has also had a considerable impact on China's import and export trade. In the first half of this year, the total value of China's foreign trade in goods was RMB 11.13 trillion, a decrease of 3.3% compared with the same period last year.

How to stabilize and improve import and export trade? Premier Li Keqiang emphasized the need to "further expand opening-up." The Premier required that efforts should be made to quickly replicate and promote trade facilitation measures from pilot free trade zones, standardize and unify business standards across different customs districts and ports in accordance with customs clearance facilitation requirements, and simplify inspection procedures.

While promoting the opening-up of trade in goods, the Premier stressed the need to give play to the role of two-way investment in boosting foreign trade. He revealed that the State Council had approved the Implementation Plan for the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect, which would be launched on the basis of the successful pilot of the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect.

"The opening-up of the financial industry, including the capital market, is an important part of China's overall opening-up. It has played a crucial role in enhancing the international competitiveness of China's financial industry and its ability to serve the real economy," Premier Li Keqiang said. "Reform and opening-up is the most distinctive feature of contemporary China. China's door to opening-up has been opened and will only open wider."

The Government's Responsibility Is to Serve Enterprises

In its third-party assessment report, the Development Research Center cited two figures: government departments gave themselves a score of 74.8 for the implementation of policies to promote the stable growth of foreign trade, while the comprehensive average score from the heads of 118 enterprises was 66.

"It seems that there is still a gap between the government's self-perception and the views of enterprises. We need to further promote the effective implementation of various policies," Premier Li Keqiang said. He immediately instructed relevant departments to systematically sort out all relevant measures issued by the State Council, identify areas that have not been truly "implemented" and powers that the government still "holds onto" despite the need to "delegate" them.

The meeting held on the same day decided to further clean up operational fees in ports, shipping and other areas, accelerate the progress of export tax rebates, and strengthen supervision over vicious competition. At the same time, it will reform and improve institutional mechanisms adapted to new business forms and models, expand pilots for cross-border e-commerce, market procurement trade methods, and foreign trade comprehensive service enterprises, and foster new drivers of development.

"We have repeatedly emphasized that all localities and departments should continuously 'optimize services.' One of the important responsibilities of the government is to provide high-quality services for enterprises, simplify various procedures, and at the same time create a more fair competitive market environment," the Premier said.