On March 6, during the economic-themed press conference of the Fourth Session of the 14th National People's Congress, a reporter from 21st Century Business Herald posed a question to Commerce Minister Wang Wentao: In recent years, leveraging China's super-large market advantages, the Ministry of Commerce has successively launched a series of activities such as "Buy in China," "Export to China," and "Invest in China." Could you elaborate on the considerations behind these initiatives and outline the specific plans for this year?
Minister Wang Wentao responded, "The reporter mentioned a key term—'super-large market scale.' The market is the scarcest resource in today's world. While some countries treat the market as a weapon or a bargaining chip by practicing protectionism, China, as a responsible major country, proactively opens its super-large market, viewing it as an opportunity and a platform for cooperation."
"Many foreign companies now regard the Chinese market as a 'gym' and a 'testing ground.' With our vast market and diverse scenarios, it serves as an ideal environment for innovation and research and development by foreign enterprises," Wang added.
In recent years, the Ministry of Commerce has introduced three national-level brand activities—"Buy in China," "Export to China," and "Invest in China"—to implement the decisions and deployments of the Central Committee. These initiatives aim to leverage the advantages of China's robust domestic market, promote independent opening-up, and facilitate the flow of goods, services, personnel, technology, and capital between domestic and international markets. By strengthening the domestic cycle, China enhances its capacity for high-level opening-up, while expanding the international cycle injects vitality into domestic reform and development, achieving interconnected and mutually reinforcing progress both internally and externally.
Regarding this year's specific work arrangements, the "Buy in China" campaign launched its kick-off event in Shanghai in January, followed by a special "Happy Shopping for the Spring Festival" activity during the holiday period, which is a key component of the initiative. Moving forward, the Ministry of Commerce will focus on three aspects to continuously build the "Buy in China" brand: organizing events, including numerous themed activities and 15 city-specific events; introducing policies, such as expanding and upgrading commodity consumption and implementing version 2.0 of the tax refund scheme for overseas visitors, to enhance convenience and scope; and optimizing scenarios by deepening the development of international consumption center cities and conducting pilot projects for an internationalized consumption environment.
For "Export to China," the first event was held in Beijing in February, with over 100系列活动 planned throughout the year. Efforts will concentrate on three areas: strengthening mutual promotion of activities by combining online and offline channels to create more对接 platforms and consumption scenarios for imported goods; enhancing supply-demand matching by identifying "what countries excel in" and "what China needs," publishing the "Export to China Capacity Development Report" to assess and help improve the export capabilities of various countries, ensuring precise alignment of supply and demand; and deepening international interaction.
As for "Invest in China," launched in 2023 and now in its fourth consecutive year, it has become a flagship activity for attracting foreign investment to China. The ministry will continue to polish this golden brand by making activities more "precise," focusing on emerging sectors that foreign companies are interested in, such as the six future industries, to improve the accuracy of industrial alignment and investment targeting; providing "superior" services through multi-level engagement mechanisms like foreign enterprise roundtable meetings, turning corporate "demand lists" into "service lists"; and creating "better" platforms by enhancing events like the Investment and Trade Fair and upgrading open platforms such as pilot free trade zones and national-level economic development zones, welcoming more foreign enterprises to invest in China.
"These three brands form an organically connected matrix. We will strengthen the linkage and mutual promotion among these activities to generate a synergistic effect, promoting the interconnection of domestic and international markets, the integration of industries, and the mutual stimulation of innovation. We aim to position China's super-large market as an opportunity for global development, allowing everyone to share in this opportunity," Minister Wang stated.