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China firmly opposes trade protectionism

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-11 10:54

China will continue to actively take part in the economic globalization process and resolutely oppose trade and investment protectionism, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said yesterday afternoon in a speech at the opening ceremony of the 2009 Summer Davos forum held in the port city of Dalian in northeast China.

Protectionism would slow recovery of the global economy and bring harm to enterprises and people around the world, Wen said.

"With the shadow of the global financial crisis still lingering, the international community must not waver in its resolve or slacken its efforts against protectionism," Wen said. "We must guard against and redress all forms of covert protectionist activities."

Special coverage:  Summer Davos 2009

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"As an active participant in economic globalization, China will never engage in trade or investment protectionism. We mean what we say and we honor our word with real action," he said, adding that China had sent several trade and investment promotion missions to Europe and the United States to purchase goods and boost investment cooperation.

Countries should increase consensus, strengthen coordination of economic policies, pursue responsible fiscal and monetary policies that fit their national conditions and maintain the consistency of economic policies, Wen said.

"We should accelerate reform of the international financial system, intensify international cooperation on financial regulation, establish an effective early-warning and crisis management system, increase transparency of financial markets and raise the capacity to fend off and respond to potential risks so as to bolster financial stability and sustainable economic growth," he said.

China stands firm on intellectual property rights (IPR) protection and will continue to implement the country's IPR strategy, take strong measures to foster a legal, market and cultural environment for IPR protection, see to it that all fruits of innovation be respected and rewarded and translate inventions and discoveries of all kinds into real forces of production, Wen added.

Climate change

All countries in the world should make efforts to deal with the climate change, as this is the common challenge facing mankind, the premier said.

"Each and every country, enterprise and individual should assume a due share of responsibility in meeting the challenge," Wen said.

China takes this issue very seriously. The country has developed the national program on tackling climate change, increased resources for scientific research and taken aggressive steps to adjust the industrial structure with a view to saving energy and reducing pollutants, he said.

Official figures showed that through three years of efforts, China's energy consumption per unit of GDP has dropped 10 percent while sulfur dioxide and chemical oxygen demand emissions declined 9 percent and 6.6 percent respectively.

"It is important for us to conduct extensive dialog and practical cooperation in line with the principles and provisions of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol," Wen said.

We should take into full account the basic national conditions, stage of development, historical responsibility and per capita emission of different countries in carrying out such cooperation and uphold the framework of sustainable development and the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities", he added.

Developed countries should recognize their historical responsibility as well as their high per capita emissions, substantially cut greenhouse gas emissions, and extend financial, technological and capacity-building support to developing countries in their effort to tackle climate change, Wen said.

Developing countries, on their part, should exert themselves and make positive contributions to fighting against climate change, he added.