China should promote innovation and development in the processing trade to help the industry move up the global value chain by 2020, the State Council said Monday.
The country aims to improve added value and technology in the sector and enhance its services and branding, the cabinet said in a document.
To realize this goal, authorities should stabilize the expectations of foreign investors and support them to invest in China to attract more advanced manufacturing and emerging industries, it said.
The service sector should be opened up further, while foreign-funded firms should be encouraged to set up procurement centers, distribution centers and settlement centers in China, according to the document.
It also urged investing more into research and development and making production more automated and smarter.
The processing sector, in which raw materials are imported to China and re-exported as finished products, accounts for over 30 percent of China's foreign trade.
The industry has suffered as global demand sagged and China's economy slowed. In the first 11 months of 2015, processing trade reported a 10.6-percent year-on-year decline in exports and imports, compared with a 7.8-percent fall in overall foreign trade.
China's processing trade has seen orders flow out of the country as production costs have risen and its competitive edge has diminished, the State Council said.
It said the country should continue to develop and upgrade processing trade in areas with existing advantages, such as textiles, shoes, furniture, plastic products and toys.
In addition, companies should be encouraged to move their production inland or abroad, while a number of commodity production bases should be established overseas, it noted.
The cabinet called for closer cooperation with nations along the Belt and Road route and African countries.
The government was urged to streamline administrative approvals and step up fiscal support to facilitate upgrading of the processing trade.
