‘Substantial progress’ in China-US trade consultations
By in Nanchang Published: Oct 19, 2019 01:18 PM
File photo: VCG
In a new round of trade consultations between China and the US held in Washington, the two sides achieved substantial progress in multiple areas, laying a significant groundwork for the signing of a phased agreement, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He said on Saturday, during the opening of the 2019 World Conference on VR Industry in Nanchang, capital of East China's Jiangxi Province.
Preventing a trade war escalation is propitious to China, the US, and the whole world, and is jointly anticipated by global producers and consumers, Liu, who is also China's chief trade negotiator with the US, said at the conference.
Stating that China-US trade cooperation concerns global growth, world peace, stability, and prosperity, he noted that China is willing to meet the US halfway, appropriately handle the issues concerning both sides on the basis of equality and mutual respect, and strive to create a good environment enabling the achievement of joint goals.
Throwing light on the state of the Chinese economy, the vice premier said the economy is undergoing a profound structural transition, and on course to shift away from high growth toward quality growth. "We are fully confident and capable of achieving China's economic development goals for this year," he added.
China is equipped with micro fundamentals which are laded with vitality, resilience and a huge leeway, and abundant macro policy tools, thereby having no worries about short-term economic fluctuations, according to Liu.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Friday that the economy expanded by 6.0 percent in the third quarter, the slowest pace in nearly three decades. The figure reached the bottom end of the government's target range of 6-6.5 percent for this year.
Indicating that tech innovation is playing an increasingly big part in powering the economy, China's GDP of information transmission, software, and information technology services soared 19.8 percent year-on-year in the first three quarters, per NBS statistics.
The country will ramp up investment in basic science and research, Liu said, highlighting the importance of integrating virtual reality (VR), artificial intelligence (AI), big data, 5G, among other emerging technologies that have pushed for technological advancement.
China produces 70 percent of the world's high-end VR headsets and is the world's most vibrant VR innovation hub, Minister of Industry and Information Technology Miao Wei said Saturday during the industry conference.
With 2019 marking the first year of 5G's commercial adoption in China, this means VR development will be aligned with 5G adoption, carving out vast commercial space, according to Miao.
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