Foreign news

Xi Jinping Calls for efforts to stimulate market vitality as COVID-19 pandemic impacts economy

Published

5 years ago

July 22, 2020

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Tuesday called for efforts to stimulate market vitality to overcome the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Chinese and global economy.

Xi made the remarks while presiding over a symposium with entrepreneurs in Beijing.

Entrepreneurs present at the meeting included Chairman of Hikvision Digital Technology Chen Zongnian, Chairman of Sinochem Group Ning Gaoning, Chairman of Wuhan Gaode Infrared Co., Ltd. Huang Li, Chairman of GoerTek Inc. Jiang Bin, senior Vice President of Microsoft Hong Xiaowen and President of Panasonic China Zhao Bingdi.

The COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a heavy economic blow to China and the rest of the world, with a slew of market players in the country facing unprecedented pressure. Market entities now act as the carriers of economic power, hence ensuring the vitality of market players is equivalent to stimulating social productivity, Xi said.

“We must unleash the dynamics of market players, carry forward an entrepreneurial spirit, and push enterprises to play a greater role in pursuing development, thus accumulating strengths for further economic growth,” Xi noted.

Xi said hefty inroads have been made in pandemic prevention and control, and China’s economic development has embraced a stable turn for the better. It is now at the forefront of the world in pandemic control and economic recovery, delivering better-than-expected outcomes.

“We must beef up our confidence to overcome the difficulties and strive to make up for the losses caused by COVID-19, so as to notch up impressive full-year economic growth,” he added.

China’s economy returned to modest growth in the second quarter of 2020 and reverted from the first contraction on record in the first quarter this year, as COVID-19 eases and policymakers proclaimed economic packages. In the first half of 2020, China’s economy declined by 1.6 percent year on year.

The world’s second-largest economy grew by 3.2 percent between April and June from a year earlier, reversing a 6.8-percent decline in the first quarter – the first contraction since at least 1992 when official quarterly gross domestic product (GDP) records started, according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics.

The reading beats the median 1.1 percent forecast by economists surveyed by Nikkei and coincides with an AFP poll which projected the economy would claw its way back into growth territory in the second quarter of this year.

Policy support

Xi expressed his gratitude to state-owned, private and foreign-funded enterprises, Hong Kong-, Macao- and Taiwan-funded companies, and the self-employed businesses for their contributions to socio-economic progress and pandemic control.

He then stressed to inject more dynamism into market entities and enlarge policy support via more proactive fiscal policies and moderate monetary policies, so that the majority of market entities can not only survive, but also obtain greater development.

Meanwhile, he called for creating an international and marketized business environment building on rule of law, including fully applying the negative list for market access and barring trading power for money.

Xi also urged local governments to provide more quality public services for enterprises, listening more to entrepreneurs’ opinions and suggestions when formulating policies related to enterprises.

In addition, more weight should be assigned to self-employed businesses, according to Xi, namely, the government should actively help them solve problems in the fields like rent, tax, social insurance, and financing with more direct and effective policy assistance.

Entrepreneurship advancement

“Entrepreneurs should advance patriotism, integrity, as well as innovation and social responsibility to become a driving force for creating a new development pattern, building a modern economic system and promoting high-quality development in the new era,” Xi noted.

He said patriotic entrepreneurs should integrate the development of enterprises with national prosperity and people’s happiness to share the burdens of the country.

Xi also encouraged entrepreneurs to be bold in innovation and focus on technological research and human capital investment. Entrepreneurs should also bear more social responsibility, step up efforts to stabilize jobs and care about employees’ health to go through the tough situation together with employees.

President Xi also urged entrepreneurs to upgrade international vision through improving international market development capability and strengthen the ability to withstand international market risks so as to drive enterprises to achieve better development during the higher-level opening-up.

China must make good use of the strength of the country’s market and push forward technological innovation in the face of rising protectionism and a volatile global economy, the Chinese president stressed.

Noting that in the long term, economic globalization is still a historical trend and win-win cooperation is the trend of the times, Xi said China would continue to deepen reform and opening-up, strengthen cooperation in the field of science and technology, promote the construction of an open world economy and push for building a community with a shared future for mankind.

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Foreign news

French Envoy Seeks Collaboration With NAN To Boost Seamless Relationship

Published

1 month ago

February 5, 2025

The Gleamer

The new French envoy to Nigeria, Marc Fonbaustier, on Wednesday called for collaboration with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) toward strengthening the mutually beneficial relationship between the two countries.

Fonbaustier, who is the French ambassador to Nigeria and the ECOWAS, made the call when he paid a courtesy visit to Malam Ali Muhammad Ali, NAN’s Managing Director, in Abuja.
The ambassador said that his purpose of visiting was to pay tribute to the MD, and to seek collaboration in three areas with a view to promoting stronger, seamless and fruitful partnership between both countries.

He added that Nigeria and its people were hospitable, especially to the foreigners and ambassadors alike.

He added that Nigeria was a country with so much energy, strength, stamina and so many talents.

In Nigeria, with the population of this size, it is inevitable that the elites of the country are very outstanding, “and there may be a Franco/Nigeria moments now”, he jokes.

According to him, France and Nigeria can collaborate more and learn from each other.
“I could feel it particularly during the state visit of President Bola Tinubu which took place in November 2024.

“I was there and I could see the intensity, the strength and the scope of the partnership, and I am here to scale up that partnership in all sectors.

“I am coming here for three reasons, first, to pay a tribute to the NAN MD and his team for the quality of this agency. We can testify that the contents that you publish are very factual, and also very well set up and structured.

“You do fact checking and you really do try to provide the community with quality information. I think, as a French ambassador, I can recognise that as part of a living democracy,” he said.

The French ambassador said the second reason for the visit was to intimate the NAN MD of France’s eagerness to go on partnership with NAN saying he hoped for assurance of a seamless, fluid and easy relationship.

He said that his third reason stemmed from his observation that NAN recently signed some partnership framework agreements with Egypt and China, saying “it may be time to think of balancing this partnership with others”.

“Especially with French, and to talk with Agence France-Presse (AFP) to see if there’s ground for a closer relationship between NAN and AFP.

“Which is also a recognised agency like yours, and I bet you the sky will be the limit to the collaboration, ’’he said.

Responding, the NAN MD informed the envoy that the agency was African’s biggest news content provider on account of its size.

Ali gave the envoy a little details of the agency’s operation and its outreach, saying “as our continent’s biggest news content provider, we have offices nationwide and in selected African countries.

“We have offices in countries such as South Africa, Cote d’ivoire, Addis Ababa, and then we have offices also beyond the shores of Africa. We have in New York and we are the only resident wire service in the United Nations.

“At a time in the past, the agency had 11 foreign offices, including Moscow, and presently, we are trying to re-open some of our shut offices, especially in London.
“We value partnership and understanding that we have with similar news organisation such as Reuters and, incidentally, we have a long standing relationship with AFP which you just raised.
“I know for years we have exchange of news between NAN and AFP but it’s a cooperation that we will like to strengthen and with your greater involvement,’’ he said.

The MD commended the ambassador for reaching out and engaging with some Nigerians communities to douse the tension of the allegation made by the Nigeriens.

He also lauded the envoy’s leadership and visibility to Nigeria and the ECOWAS, “which has helped to douse the perception and misconceptions about France, especially in the Sahel”.
“I think you have helped to reverse some of this perceptions. I thank you for the kind words that you said about the agency and about our management.

“We also see partnership as an important tool in checking the spread of fake news.
“We’ve seen instances where fake news has done great deal of damage, and with the coming of social media it has done even greater damage.

“Our country is facing a lot of challenges, one of which is the increasing insecurity, and the social media has been used by those who do not want to see our country to prosper,” Ali said.
He further said that NAN was a credible news agency that always fact check to correct the wrong narratives by those who are in the business of causing troubles.

He also told the envoy that the agency has its content in the Nigerian indigenous languages, starting with Hausa and it would proceed to Yoruba and Igbo languages later, “then later in future to French.

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