The opening meeting of the first session of the 14th National People's Congress is held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 5, 2023. (PHOTO / XINHUA)
China’s development trend in the past year has been stable, and this should continue well into 2023, said Henry Tang Ying-yen, a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference – the nation’s top political consultative body.
“Stability” is one of Tang’s major takeaways from the premier’s work report, which touched on three areas — employment, economic growth and inflation.
He was responding to Premier Li Keqiang’s Government Work Report at the opening of the first session of the 14th National People’s Congress in Beijing on Sunday.
“Stability” is one of Tang’s major takeaways from the premier’s work report, which touched on three areas — employment, economic growth and inflation.
“It’s very important that China has maintained a low inflation rate in the past few years,”he said, despite a fraught global economy and supply chains being severely disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as political turmoil.
At a zoom meeting with the media on Sunday, Tang described the nation’s target of 5-percent GDP growth set by Li as a “realistic” estimate, and is a “reasonable and achievable” objective.
He also considered the estimate to be very feasible and attainable for the country in keeping inflation low at 3 percent despite the surge in global inflation last year. “I still believe that China will become the strongest and biggest growth engine in the world economy”.
“So, I hope to see that, with the 5-percent growth target, foreign investors will find China a very attractive market for future growth and development. I believe that most global investors are well aware of the tremendous investment opportunities up for grabs on the Chinese mainland,” said Tang.
He exalted the central government’s commitment to optimizing the nation’s foreign investment ecosystem by expanding market access and creating 21 pilot free trade zones across the country.
While welcoming Li’s call for doubling down on efforts to attract foreign investment, Tang proposed introducing a Qualified Foreign Limited Partnership scheme to smoothen foreign investors’ entry into the Chinese market.
Henry Tang Ying-yen, chairman of the board of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority, and member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
“Now, they’re using different proxies for investments, but I think the QFLP would greatly increase the nation’s potential to attract more foreign capital,”he said. The scheme would also be a boon for innovation and technology startups, as well as emerging companies that seek badly needed economic support without having to go public.
Tang concurs with the central government’s emphasis on cultural development, as highlighted in Li’s work report. “I’m very pleased that the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) has assigned Hong Kong to be an art and cultural center for international and domestic exchanges. I’m confident that the special administrative region is in an ideal position and our West Kowloon Cultural District will play a pivotal role, together with the HKSAR government, to this end,” he said.