China pledges efforts to expand opening-up, welcomes foreign investment

China will roll out more measures to expand opening-up and attract more foreign investment in 2025, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) on Wednesday.

Efforts will be made to further ease market access, MOC official Li Yongjie told a press conference. She said that after China placed zero restrictions on foreign investment in its manufacturing sector last year, it will advance the opening-up of its services sector this year — particularly pilot programs in the telecommunication, medical care and education fields.

On optimizing the country's business environment, Li pledged continuous efforts to promote the Invest in China campaign this year, and improve services for foreign-invested firms.

Efforts will be made to resolve problems foreign-invested firms face in qualification licensing, standard setting and government procurement, according to Li.

Efforts should also be made to build high-level opening-up platforms that align with high-standard international economic and trade rules, the official said, calling for continued work to improve the quality and efficiency of the country's pilot free trade zones.