Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi said here Thursday that China will continue to push forward the opening of the service sector and open new areas to absorb overseas capital.

Wu made the keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the two-day World Economic Development Declaration Conference (WEDDC) and the China Business Summit.

Wu said that China will continue to adopt an active fiscal policy and a stable monetary policy, expand domestic demand and promote consumption so as to ensure the sustainable, rapid and healthy growth of the Chinese economy.

Currently, housing and automobiles have gradually become hot new consumption areas in China, she said. Thanks to China's upgraded consumption demand and the improved investment environment, China maintained its comprehensive advantages in attracting overseas capital, retaining its position as a hot spot for overseas investors, in particular the multinational corporations.

According to Wu, the Chinese government will continue to improve the legal system for overseas investment in line with the rules as required by the World Trade Organization, simplify the investment approval procedures and enhance intellectual property rights protection, creating an open, fair and transparent business environment for investors.

Wu pledged to continue to push forward the opening of China's service sector. China has already allowed the setup of wholly foreign-owned procurement centers in Shenzhen, Shanghai and Tianjin on a trial basis. She said it was to try to cater to the development of the logistics industry and give play to China's advantages in the processing industry.

In line with the adjustment of the international industrial mix, Wu said, China will continue to encourage overseas-funded enterprises to invest in the manufacturing and service industries while paying attention to outsourcing within multinational corporations.

China has already formulated policies and legal regulations to allow overseas investors to pour investment by means of acquisition and build-operate-transfer, allow overseas enterprises to go public, encourage multinational corporations to participate in innovation of state-owned enterprises, further expand overseas investment's handling of domestic non-performing assets, allow overseas investment to accept or transfer shares of legal persons by means of direct investment and encourage multinational corporations to set up regional headquarters and research and development centers, she said.

(Xinhua News Agency November 6, 2003)