China makes great contribution to the world as WTO member: white paper

The Information Office of the State Council on Thursday released a white paper, titled "China and the World Trade organization," with facts highlighting China's significant contribution to the world since its accession to the WTO.

"China has embraced the world with open arms, made a significant contribution to promoting international trade and increasing global wellbeing, and become a key anchor and driver for the world economy," says the white paper.

Since 2002, China's contribution to global economic growth has approached 30 percent on average. The Chinese economy has become a major engine for global economic recovery and growth, it says.

"China has comprehensively fulfilled its commitments to the WTO, substantially opened its market to the world, and delivered mutually beneficial and win-win outcomes on a wider scale," the white paper says.

China's imports accounted for 10.2 percent of the world total merchandise import in 2017, and its exports 12.8 percent, making China a major trade partner of more than 120 countries and regions, the white paper quotes the WTO statistics as saying.

The country's exports have provided high-quality and inexpensive products to businesses and people around the world.

Meanwhile, China has remained a magnet for foreign investment. After China's accession to the WTO, its foreign direct investment (FDI) increased from 46.88 billion U.S. dollars in 2001 to 136.32 billion dollars in 2017, up by an annual average of 6.9 percent.

Citing a report by the American Chamber of Commerce in China, the white paper says that nearly 60 percent of the interviewed enterprises ranked China as a top three investment priority, with some 74 percent of the member enterprises planning to expand their investments in China in 2018.

Another survey by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China showed more than half of its member enterprises plan to expand their presence in China.

In 2017, newly founded foreign invested enterprises in China reached 35,652, an increase of 27.8 percent, according to the white paper.

In terms of annual flow of outward direct investment (ODI), China's world ranking rose from the 26th place after its accession to the WTO to the third in 2017.

"China's outward investment cooperation has accelerated technological progress in the host countries, advanced their economic development, improved their people's well-being and created many jobs," says the white paper.

China is committed to building an open platform of cooperation, upholding and growing an open world economy, and working together with other countries to build a broad community of shared interests, the white paper says.

The Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China in 2013 plays an important role in promoting in-depth cooperation and common development between countries and regions, it says.

By the end of 2017, Chinese enterprises had set up 75 overseas economic and trade cooperation zones in countries participating in the the Belt and Road Initiative, contributed more than 1.6 billion dollars in taxes to the host countries and created 220,000 local jobs.

Initiated by China, the China International Import Expo is an international public product that promotes inclusive and mutually beneficial development around the globe, the white paper says, adding it will bring together multiple international organizations and more than 100 countries.

"China is willing to work hand-in-hand with its global trading partners to make economic globalization more open, inclusive, balanced and win-win with benefits to all," the white paper says.