Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng on Monday called for action to further attract and utilize foreign investment, when chairing a symposium on foreign investment work in Beijing.
He, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, urged the further relaxation of market access and turning the country's advantages of an ultra-large market into real advantages in attracting capital.
The vice premier said efforts should be made to continue building a market-oriented, law-based and international business environment, support domestic and foreign enterprises on an equal basis to participate in large-scale equipment upgrading, government procurement and bidding, and smooth channels for foreign enterprises to reflect and resolve their demands, while promptly responding to foreign enterprises' concerns.
Provinces that are major destinations of foreign capital inflow should strengthen services, promote the accelerated implementation of foreign investment projects, give full play to the role of various open platforms such as pilot free-trade zones, and explore ideas and forms of attracting investment that adapt to the new situation, said He.
Chinese vice premier stresses further attracting foreign investment
China and Kazakhstan have witnessed an upsurge in people-to-people and cultural exchanges in recent years, a development that Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed in a signed article published in Kazakh media outlets prior to his visit to the central Asian country.
Xi arrived for a state visit to Kazakhstan on Tuesday, where he will also attend the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
On the same day, the signed article from the Chinese president was published in the Kazakhstanskaya Pravda newspaper and Kazinform International News Agency under the title "Staying True to Our Shared Commitment and Opening a New Chapter in China-Kazakhstan Relations."
In the article, Xi highlighted the enduring friendship between the Chinese and Kazakh peoples, citing an example involving Chinese musician Xian Xinhai and Kazakh composer Bakhytzhan Baikadamov.
Over 80 years ago, Xian and Baikadamov met and became close and devoted friends despite their different nationalities and languages.
"In 1943, my father happened to meet Xian Xinghai, who was sitting on a box holding a violin. Seeing how helpless and homeless Xian was, my father took his hand and brought him home," Baikadamova's daughter Baldyrgan said.
Xi also mentioned the much-respected Kazakh ophthalmologist Saulebek Kabibekov, who treated more than 200,000 patients during his 25-year stay in northeastern China.
There was also a nod to the hugely popular Kazakh singer Dimash Kudaibergen, who took China by storm after he won the second place in a popular reality singing competition, "Singer 2017", and later had the chance to meet Xi.
"I first met President Xi in 2017. After the performance, he came to me and told me about his impressions [of] my work and musical journey in China. Since then, I've been exploring Chinese culture and history which, of course, has inspired me infinitely," said Kudaibergen.
People-to-people exchanges between the two countries have also become more frequent since mutual visa-exemption arrangements took effect last year, facilitating greater travel between the two sides.
Last year, a total of 600,000 cross-border trips were recorded. In the first quarter of 2024, the number of visits in both directions had already amounted to 200,000 and are expected to reach a new high by the end of the year.
China, Kazakhstan see upsurge in people-to-people, cultural exchanges
