The Ministry of Commerce responds to hot issues such as Meta's acquisition of Manus and China US economic and trade relations

Beijing, April 2 (Xinhua) -- At the regular press conference held on the 2nd, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce, He Yadong, responded to hot issues such as Meta's acquisition of Manus and Sino US economic and trade relations.

A reporter asked: There are reports that the founder of Manus has been banned from leaving China to Singapore. What measures will China take regarding Meta's acquisition of Manus? Additionally, how much of the technology needs to be developed in China to be considered as originating from China? If a company is registered in a foreign country and does not reference domestic capital or provide domestic business to collect domestic user data, how does China establish its jurisdiction?

He Yadong responded that regarding the first question you mentioned, the Ministry of Commerce is not aware of the relevant situation. Regarding the issue of cross-border operations of enterprises, China has responded multiple times before. I would like to emphasize once again that the Chinese government supports enterprises to carry out cross-border operations and technological cooperation as needed, and relevant actions must comply with Chinese laws and regulations and follow legal procedures

When it comes to the economic and trade relations between China and the United States, He Yadong said that since last year, under the important consensus strategy of the two heads of state, China and the United States have reached a series of consultation results in the economic and trade field after six rounds of economic and trade consultations, injecting more stability and certainty into bilateral economic and trade relations and the world economy. The fact fully proves that adhering to mutual respect and equal dialogue and consultation is the best way to bridge differences and solve problems. Both China and the United States should implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state and the results of previous economic and trade consultations, further leverage the role of the China US economic and trade consultation mechanism, strengthen dialogue and communication, properly manage differences, expand pragmatic cooperation, and promote the healthy, stable, and sustainable development of China US economic and trade relations.

Regarding the 3.0 version of the China ASEAN Free Trade Area, a reporter asked: What progress has the Ministry of Commerce made in promoting the 3.0 version of the China ASEAN Free Trade Area? Especially in the fields of digital economy and green economy, how will China and ASEAN countries deepen industrial chain cooperation?

He Yadong stated that the China ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 Upgrade Protocol was officially signed on October 28 last year. The upgraded version 3.0 conforms to the new trend of international economic and trade development, and for the first time incorporates emerging fields such as digital economy, green economy, and interconnectivity of production and supply chains into the framework. According to the protocol, the agreement needs to be ratified by China and at least five ASEAN member states for it to come into effect. At present, China is accelerating the domestic approval process of the Protocol in sync with ASEAN member states, striving for the early entry into force and implementation of the Protocol.

We will fully unleash the effectiveness of the protocol, support Chinese digital and new energy enterprises to deeply cultivate the ASEAN market, continue to deepen cooperation between the two sides in cutting-edge fields such as cloud infrastructure, artificial intelligence, financial technology, green equipment, and green power, and promote deep integration of the production and supply chain, "said He Yadong.

The 139th Canton Fair will open on April 15th. According to He Yadong, as of April 1st, the number of pre registered overseas buyers has exceeded 170000. Purchasing enterprises have continued to grow, and 279 enterprises have confirmed to form a delegation to attend the conference, including Wal Mart in the United States, Senbaoli in the United Kingdom, Samsung Electronics in South Korea, etc.

From the registration situation, even in the face of an uncertain external environment, overseas buyers still cross mountains and seas and vote with their feet, demonstrating their trust in Chinese products and confidence in the Chinese economy, "said He Yadong.