Ministry Of Commerce: If China And The United States Reach The First Stage Agreement, They Should Lower The Tariff Accordingly.

In December 5th, the Ministry of Commerce held a regular press conference. The spokesman of the Ministry of Commerce issued a summit meeting to respond to the Sino US trade frictions, the matching system of foreign investment laws, and the economic and trade exchanges between the mainland and Macao.

On Sino US trade friction

The Chinese side believes that if the two sides reach the first stage agreement, the tariff should be reduced accordingly. Peak said that the two sides' economic and trade team has maintained close communication, and there is no more details to disclose.

On Foreign Investment Law

The Ministry of Commerce has attached great importance to the relevant implementation of foreign investment law. At present, the public consultation on the implementation of the foreign investment law has ended. The Ministry of Commerce will continue to actively cooperate with the Ministry of justice in formulating the implementation regulations for foreign investment laws, conscientiously study the opinions and suggestions put forward by all sectors of society, further improve the implementation of the bill, and promote the introduction as soon as possible, so as to ensure the implementation of the foreign investment law in January 1st. Meanwhile, the Ministry of commerce is also pressing ahead with the formulation of relevant supporting regulations. For example, in conjunction with the General Administration of market supervision, drafting the foreign investment information reporting method (Draft) has also completed the work of soliciting opinions. In the next step, we will further improve and publish the opinions and suggestions according to the opinions and suggestions we have sought, and ensure that the foreign investment law is implemented in a synchronized way.

Talking about RCEP

RCEP15 members have concluded all 20 chapters' textual negotiations and virtually all negotiations on market access, and immediately started the legal text review so as to sign the agreement in 2020. This is the consensus of the third leaders' meeting of RCEP. At the same time, according to the joint statement of leaders, important issues in India have not yet been resolved, and the parties will try to solve these problems in a satisfactory way. India will decide whether to join them. At present, all sides of RCEP are promoting relevant work in accordance with the direction determined by the leaders' meeting. The legal text review has been launched this week, and the parties are carrying out the work in Jakarta, Indonesia. The relevant members are also communicating with each other a small number of market access problems left behind. At the same time, all parties will continue to maintain contacts and consultations with India and strive to solve some problems of India's concern in a mutually satisfactory way. All sides welcome India's early accession to the RCEP.

On the feasibility of joining CPTPP

China is a staunch supporter of economic globalization and trade liberalization. We always believe that only by opening cooperation can we promote the better development of the world economy. China has been firmly committed to safeguarding the multilateral trading system and firmly opposing unilateralism and trade protectionism. At the same time, China also advocates the establishment of an open, transparent and mutually beneficial regional free trade arrangement. As long as it meets the principles of WTO, open, inclusive and transparent, it is conducive to promoting economic globalization and regional economic integration. We all have a positive attitude.

On WTO dispute settlement mechanism

The dispute settlement mechanism is one of the three pillars of WTO. The number of appellate bodies is insufficient due to the continued obstruction of the Appellate Body by individual members, which will be paralyzed after December 10th of this year. This will lead to the failure of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism to operate properly and to undermine the authority and effectiveness of the multilateral trading system. Such a behavior that undermines the multilateral trading system is condemned by the overwhelming majority of WTO members.

China firmly upholds the multilateral trading system and attaches great importance to the appellate body. It has been actively promoting resolution. On the one hand, China and 115 members submitted proposals to start the appeal body selection and continue to promote the settlement of related issues. On the other hand, China's 40 members, including the European Union, submitted a proposal on the reform of the appellate body, actively participating in consultations and striving for consensus among WTO members. Next, China will continue to work with the overwhelming majority of WTO members to resolve the crisis of the appellate body. At the same time, we are also studying relevant countermeasures to safeguard the operation of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism and safeguard a rule based multilateral trading system.

On economic and trade cooperation with Macao

In the past 20 years since the return of Macao, the economic and trade cooperation between the mainland and Macao has entered a new historical stage. The exchanges have become increasingly close and the cooperation has developed in an all-round way. In 2018, the volume of trade between the mainland and Macao reached US $3 billion 160 million, which was 3.3 times higher than that before the reunification. The mainland actually used US $1 billion 280 million, which was 3.1 times higher than that before the reunification, and the total turnover of the mainland contracted in Macao was US $2 billion 510 million, which was 20.3 times higher than that before the reunification. The mainland and Macao's "Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement" (CEPA) was signed in 2003 and upgraded in 2018. It has become a high level free trade agreement with the characteristics of "one country, two systems" and a comprehensive coverage of economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.

In the 15 years since the implementation of CEPA, the two sides have fully liberalized in the field of goods trade. In the 1-10 month of 2019, the trade volume between the mainland and Macao reached 17 billion 590 million yuan, an increase of 5.5% over the same period last year. In the field of service trade, last month, the two sides revised the CEPA service trade agreement, abolished or lowered the entry threshold for Macao service providers in the mainland in many fields such as finance, law, architecture, and relaxed restrictions on the mode of service trade such as natural person mobility and cross border payment, creating more convenient conditions for Macao people to practice in the mainland, and further facilitating the efficient and convenient flow of personnel and technology in both places. In the field of investment, the two sides have achieved comprehensive protection. In the field of economic and technological cooperation, the relevant arrangements in the two areas extend to a wider range. At the same time, in terms of trade and investment facilitation, the two sides have carried out rich and pragmatic cooperation.

We will continue to work closely with the government of the Macao SAR to promote Macao's moderately diversified economic development, support Macao's integration into the new era of national development and promote Macao's long-term prosperity and stability.