China premier promises ‘faster’ financial opening up to foreign investors days after agreeing to US trade war truce

Li Keqiang tells ‘Summer Davos’ forum in Dalian on Tuesday that Beijing will scrap foreign ownership caps in the domestic financial industry in 2020

He did not mention the US or the trade war in his speech, but the move comes days after President Xi Jinping’s meeting with Donald Trump at the G20 summit

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US President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Osaka. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:00pm, 2 Jul 2019Updated: 11:57am, 8 Jul 2019

China will scrap foreign ownership caps in the domestic financial industry from 2020, a year earlier than previously expected, Premier Li Keqiang said on Tuesday, in a fresh gesture to woo foreign investors, just days after agreeing to another truce in the year-long trade war with the United States.

Li did not directly mention the US or the trade war in his speech to the “Summer Davos” forum in Dalian on Tuesday, but said China will open its markets wider to foreign investors, while also repeating China’s assurance that it will protect its interests amid a changing world.

Li, the second-in-command to President Xi Jinping in China’s political pecking order, said the world should seek “common ground” at a time when growth risks are rising while trade flows are ebbing.

“In the face of pressure from a slowing global economy, I believe people are all in the same boat,” Li said, according to Reuters. “We should promote the spirit of partnership, carry out equal consultations, seek common ground while reserving differences and manage and control disputes.”

The Summer Davos, officially known as the Annual Meeting of the New Champions of the World Economic Forum, is a venue for Chinese officials to show a friendly face to the international business community, although Li’s speech was not broadcast live on Chinese state media.

The forum has become an occasion to attract investment and to shore up market confidence and this year came as executives from many multinational companies are deciding whether to relocate production facilities out of China to avoid tariffs imposed by both Beijing and Washington.

Li’s was the first public speech delivered by a member of the Chinese leadership since the trade war truce was announced at the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, on Saturday, with Chinese agencies remaining largely quiet as many bilateral disputes remain unresolved.