BEIJING, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Commerce will provide support for the central and western regions to deeply integrate into the construction of the Belt and Road, Ren Hongbin, Assistant Minister of Commerce, said at a press briefing Thursday.
The move aims to promote the opening-up of the central and western regions on a larger scale and at a higher level, and boost the development of foreign trade in those regions.
According to Ren, more open platforms will be set up to achieve this goal. China will foster more open platforms such as pilot free trade zones, national economic development zones and cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones in the central and western regions, and support those regions to participate in important fairs such as the China International Import Expo (CIIE), Canton Fair and China Processing Trade Products Fair, in a bid to help them undertake industrial transfer and expand international markets.
Meanwhile, China will strive to ensure smooth operation of foreign trade channels and promote trade exchanges between central and western regions and the countries along the Belt and Road. Efforts would be made to accelerate the construction of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, improve multimodal transport mechanisms and make the south-bound channel connecting Southeast Asia and Central Asia run smoothly, said Ren.
Ren noted that China will try to optimize economic and trade cooperation mechanism and help enterprises in the central and western regions solve difficulties encountered in foreign trade in a timely manner. (Edited by Zhang Yuan with Xinhua Silk Road, zhangyuan11@xinhua.org)
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