(Bloomberg) -- China's premier pledged that his nation would expand access to markets and also boost imports, which have fallen this year.
“We will continue to promote opening up, with greater inclusiveness and benefit sharing,” Li Qiang said in a speech Sunday to start the China International Import Expo in Shanghai, adding that China “will actively expand imports.”
China's No. 2 official also vowed “to protect the rights and interests of foreign investors in accordance with the law,” comments that come after a measure of foreign investment into the world's second-largest economy turned negative for the first time since records began in 1998.
The promise to boost imports from other nations comes despite the slowdown in the Chinese economy, which has hurt demand for goods from around the world. Earlier this month, China reported that imports decreased 6.2% in September, down for the seventh month in a row.
See: China's Export Slump Eases as Beijing Tries to Boost Outlook
China has been seeking to lure more foreign investors into the nation to aid the economic recovery but economists have said the decline in FDI by the balance-of-payments measure reflects less willingness by foreign companies to re-invest profits made in the country.
That's due to strained ties with the West and the rising attractiveness of keeping cash overseas. Advanced economies have been raising interest rates while China has been cutting them to stimulate the economy.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, making the first visit by an Australian leader in seven years, spoke at the CIIE just after Li, saying his nation would work “constructively” with China.
Albanese was attending the expo to promote Australian exports and businesses. China recently removed trade curbs on Australian barley, coal and timber, moves that followed an extended period of frosty ties between Canberra and Beijing.
Also: Australia's Albanese Begins First China Trip With Trade in Focus
In his remarks on Sunday, Li also pledged that the Asian nation would be more proactive in “promoting the orderly and free flow of data in accordance with the law.”
China put a new law on data into effect in 2021 that prompted worry among executives at multinationals over their ability to operate in the nation. In September, the government proposed relaxing some of the strict rules on data flows abroad, a move partly aimed at allaying the concerns and reviving faltering growth.
More: China's Spies Pledge Crackdown on Weather Data Going Abroad
The CIIE began in 2018 and is aimed at providing foreign exporters with an opportunity to increase their trade with China.
Border closures due to the pandemic meant that few people were able to attend in person over the past three years. President Xi Jinping addressed the expo via video last year, saying the nation will expand imports of “high-quality products.”
--With assistance from Ocean Hou.
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