The 2019 Commerce Work Conference of Liaoning Province was held on January 22nd. To further improve the level of Liaoning's opening-up, Liaoning Province would put great emphasis on the completion of 33 tasks in seven aspects this year to achieve the goals of a 7% year-on-year growth in total retail sales of consumer goods, a 7% year-on-year growth in total export-import volume of goods, and a 10% year-on-year growth in total investment volume.
This year, Liaoning Province will accelerate its process of integrating and participating in the construction of "the Belt and the Road" initiative to build the main portal of opening-up in North China, strengthen the construction of opening-up platforms, promote the construction work of China-CEE "16+1" Economic and Trade Cooperation Demonstration Zone, hold the 2019 Conference of the Working Group of the Association of Local Governors in China and Central-Eastern European Countries, etc., make positive research on the construction of free trade seaport in Dalian, optimize the environment for business operation, accelerate the construction of "one-stop service window for all affairs of international trade", simplify the customs clearance procedures, and lower the relevant costs.
Government of Liaoning Province shall strengthen the process of project introduction and business invitation, with great emphasis on holding “Investment Promotion Week” activities in key domestic investment source places such as Shenzhen, Beijing and Shanghai, etc., and planning investment promotion activities in other key regions such as Japan, South Korea, Russia, Europe, the Americas and China's Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, to introduce key projects with good marketing prospect, hi-tech elements, high ROI, and great leading power.
Stable foreign trade will guarantee the steady economic development. This year, Liaoning Province will establish a provincial-level foreign trade group, serving as an effective platform for medium and small-sized foreign trade enterprises to expand the scope of import and export, with great emphasis on the expansion of international markets and the participation of a series of key expositions held inside and outside China such as ASEAN Expo, etc. The province will hold an expo for Liaoning's exported goods in Osaka, Japan for the first time. Meanwhile, the province will also focus on the development of import by supporting key hi-tech enterprises and private enterprises to expand the scope and volume of import to increase the importing percentage of electromechanical products and hi-tech products.
For accelerating the construction of key opening-up platforms, this year Liaoning Province will give full play to the role of "test field" of FTA in the opening-up process and accelerate the construction of platforms such as economic development zones, special supervision and administration areas of the customs, and opening-up ports, etc. The province shall also complete the 124 national-level pilot tasks of reform, accelerate the process of innovation in the distinctive pilot tasks of promoting the reform of state-owned assets and enterprises, and strengthen the integration of reforming systems to offer more experiences of Liaoning to the rest of Northeastern China and the country. The province shall also put great emphasis on the pressure test and risk prevention and control during the process of opening-up, with the aim of building the three areas of the FTA into a prosperous industrial cluster with full use of foreign investment.