Premier Wen Jiabao has pledged to create a level playing field for foreign companies on the mainland, attempting to arrest a slide in inbound investment and head off criticism the nation is erecting trade barriers.
'The Chinese government will stick to the opening-up policy enshrined by the principles of mutual benefits,' Xinhua reported Mr Wen as telling German Chancellor Angela Merkel by telephone on Thursday.
'China will maintain a market for fair competition and won't take any measure to discriminate against foreign companies and products.'
Mr Wen's comments appeared to contradict a recent Beijing directive to local governments to 'buy local', a policy that has attracted the ire of foreign companies on the mainland and risks sparking a backlash against mainland goods overseas.
Mr Wen, the first top official to comment on rising trade tensions, appeared eager to send an olive branch to major trading partners.
The United States and the European Union lodged a complaint with the World Trade Organisation on Tuesday about Beijing's export restraints on raw materials. The US has also begun probing dumping charges against Chinese makers of steel grating and steel wires. In a tit-for-tat response, Beijing lodged a complaint about US import restrictions on Chinese poultry.
