In his remarks, Consul General Zhao pointed out that the Chinese Government is fully confident in China's economic development. The slowdown of China's economy in recent years was largely the result of policy adjustment by the Chinese Government. Its purpose is to focus more on improving the quality of economy rather than growth speed. Generally speaking, China's economy is sound and stable. The annual growth rate has been maintained at around 7.5%, the employment situation has been good and the inflation rate is kept quite low. Main economic data for the first quarter is better than market expectation. There is no possibility of the so-called "hard landing" of the Chinese economy

Consul General Zhao emphasized that the Chinese Government has all the ability to deal with the economic difficulties such as overcapacity of production in certain industrial sectors, real estate bubbles in some parts of the country, ill-managed shadow banking and rising local government debts etc. The Government is fully aware of those problems and is adopting proper measures to handle them, especially by deepening reforms in a comprehensive way. More than 330 reform measures were already planned in the Third Plenary Session of 18th CPC Central Committee at the end of last year. Everyone should not have any doubt on the resolve of the Chinese Government in this regard.

Consul General Zhao said that China will continue to provide huge opportunities to foreign companies in many aspects. First, China remains a most popular destination for international investment because of its huge domestic market, world-class infrastructure, well developed manufacture sector, still low labor costs and stable social environment. China is also determined to open more areas to foreign investors, and Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone was established to carry out trials of granting the pre-establishment national treatment to foreign investors. Second, China will become a more important export market for foreign companies, as China continues to enjoy relatively high-speed development and its population becomes richer. It's estimated that China will import over 10 trillion US dollars of goods between 2013 and 2018. Last but not the least, China will continue to expand its overseas investment and its new ODI (overseas direct investment) is expected to reach 500 billion US dollars between 2013 and 2018, which will benefit many economies in the world.

Consul General Zhao pointed out that there is a huge potential for Sino-US economic and trade relations. He expressed the hope that both sides can strengthen dialogue and communication to fully exploit the opportunities for cooperation, properly handle differences and promote bilateral relations to a higher level.