Full transcript of policy briefing of the State Council on Jan 16, 2015

Bloomberg:

I have two questions. First, you mentioned the problem of fake trade. What measures will the Chinese government take in 2015 to solve the problem? Second, you mentioned that China's outbound investment will possibly exceed the foreign investment it attracts. What does this mean for the Chinese economy?

Zhong Shan:

There is a relatively sound statistical criteria for China's foreign trade. We have punished some enterprises which operated against regulations. Last year we adjusted the statistics accordingly. The Chinese government stuck to the truth by punishing enterprises that faked imports or exports and eliminating this from the statistics, thus making the foreign trade statistics more accurate. We are doing this now, and we will be doing this in the future, to make the statistics more reflective of reality.

As to the second question about China's outbound investment, I have mentioned that it's a logical necessity that for a country as large and as populated as China, it needs outbound investment to become international.

In the past, we would have liked to invest abroad, but we didn't have the strength or experience. The reform and opening up lasting more than 30 years has given Chinese enterprises managerial experience, technological and financial strengths. As a result, it's inevitable that they go to the international stage and into different countries gradually, just like enterprises in the US and other countries invest in China. But China is a newcomer. We need to keep improving our managerial skills in the process of outbound investment. The Chinese government supports the country's enterprises in overseas investment.

Thank you.

Zhu Zhixin:

I agree with Minister Zhong. First, we need to acknowledge that overseas investment is inevitable. That is to say, it's a step China will surely take as the reform and opening up has lasted for more than 30 years. Second, overseas investment is an important step for China to keep blending into the global economy. Third, it helps us to achieve inclusive development. Fourth, China contributes to the development of the world through overseas investment. Thank you