Photo: Xinhua

Premier Li Keqiang on Friday afternoon held a symposium with representatives of foreign experts working in China at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing ahead of the Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year.

The symposium was attended by the 2011 Nobel Prize winner in chemistry Dan Shechtman, the 2018 Nobel Prize winner in physics Gerard Mourou and other foreign experts as well as Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and State Councilor and Secretary General of the State Council Xiao Jie.

Li first extended Lunar New Year greetings and gratitude to foreign experts and their family members for their contribution to China's reform and opening-up and modernization.

Noting that the Chinese economy has maintained high-quality stable growth and the newly added urban jobs have surpassed 13 million, Li said it was a hard-won achievement and pledged to ensure the full implementation of institutional tax cuts and the further optimization of the business environment this year to spur market vitality.

China will unwaveringly safeguard world peace, uphold multilateralism and cooperate with other countries to achieve mutual benefits, Li said.

"China will continue to expand opening-up in technology and other sectors," Li said, vowing that the cooperation with the international society will only get wider.

Meanwhile, the country will implement more proactive, open and effective talent policies to offer more convenience for foreign experts living in China, according to Li.