China's Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday that it had organized relief efforts to flood-stricken areas in central and southern China amid broad government efforts to mitigate flood damage.

So far, more than 6,500 tons of relief materials including essential supplies have been dispatched to Huarong county, while some 8,000 tons of materials were sent to Pingjiang county, spokesperson He Yongqian told a press conference on Thursday. 

Huarong and Pingjiang are two counties located in Central China's Hunan Province that were heavily battered by floods.  

He, MOFCOM's newly appointed spokesperson, said that the ministry is making every effort to ensure the supply of essential supplies in areas affected by heavy rains and flooding in Hunan, Central China's Henan Province and East China's Shandong Province.

The ministry has activated emergency response measures and is guiding key areas in the organization of relief work to guarantee essential supplies for people in the disaster-stricken areas, He said.

The ministry is engaged in daily monitoring of the supply and demand situation at key areas, monitoring the price fluctuations of daily necessities such as grain, oil, meat, eggs, milk, fruits, vegetables as well as preprepared food and bottled water.

Some 700 key enterprises in Hunan and neighboring provinces tasked with providing supplies have ramped up their material inventories, with stock for essential supplies being lifted10-30 percent above normal levels.

Chinese government departments are engaged in an all-out relief effort. The Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday that it has allocated an additional 848 million yuan ($118.9 million) to support flood rescue efforts, prioritizing water infrastructure repair and removal of hazards.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on the same day that since the dike breach at Dongting Lake in Hunan, the ministry has deployed workers, trucks and generators to engage in emergency repairs, and has managed to maintain normal telecommunications coverage outside the waterlogged areas.

Also on Tuesday, the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee allocated 231 million yuan for rescue and disaster relief work across nine provincial-level regions, including Hunan and East China's Anhui Province.

Daughter of the founder of Chinese beverage giant Wahaha Group has reportedly resigned as vice chairman of the company, according to media reports on Thursday.

According to a resignation letter circulating online, Zong Fuli, daughter of the late Wahaha chairman Zong Qinghou has decided to resign from her positions as vice chairman and general manager of Wahaha Group, effective July 15.

In the letter, Zong Fuli said that some shareholders have raised questions about the management of Wahaha Group following the passing of chairman Zong Qinghou and this has made it impossible for her to continue performing her management responsibilities.

According to the letter, Zong said she has submitted her resignation letter to the company and all shareholders, urging them to promptly appoint a new general manager in accordance with the company's regulations to ensure the normal operation of the group and protect the interests of the company, customers, and employees.

Several subsidiaries of Wahaha Group told the Global Times on Thursday that the legal person remained unchanged and they have not heard of Zong Fuli, vice chairman and general manager of Wahaha Group, stepping down from her position at the group headquarters, in response to her rumored resignation.

A Wahaha dairy subsidiary in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province told the Global Times on Thursday that Zong Fuli remained the company’s legal person and they have not heard of any official notice from the headquarters about her stepping down.

Another Wahaha food subsidiary in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region told the Global Times that they have not received any official notification regarding Zong Fuli’s resignation.

The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Shangcheng district, Hangzhou, East China’s Zhejiang Province, where Wahaha is based, told Jiemian News that they are currently verifying about the resignation from Zong Fuli.

Regarding the resignation rumor, a source close to Wahaha Group told thepaper.cn on Thursday that the situation is true, but the incident was sudden and the company's senior executives were not aware of it beforehand. Currently, the shareholders and management team of the company are in further discussion to handle the situation.

Zong Fuli probably faces challenges in handling integration with the major state-owned shareholders, the existing management model, and the management team during the company's transition. It is crucial to explore and establish a new institutional framework that aligns with the interests and beliefs of all parties involved. This is definitely not an easy task, said Yang Yiqing, executive president of Business Seminar Zhejiang told thepaper.cn.

Public information shows that Wahaha Group was founded in 1987. It has developed into one of the world's leading food and beverage production companies, and is among the top 500 Chinese enterprises and the top 500 private enterprises in China.

On February 25, Zong Qinghou, the founder and chairman of Wahaha Group, passed away at the age of 79.

Zong Fuli, his daughter, was born in 1982, is currently the vice chairman and general manager of Wahaha Group. The position of chairman of Wahaha has been vacant since Zong Qinghou's passing.

As the third plenary session of the 20th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee will be convened on Monday, the world is watching how the pivotal gathering, also known as the third plenum, will identify priorities for comprehensively deepening reform, map out a blueprint for its long-term economic development and open up a new chapter in the country's march toward Chinese modernization. 

The plenum is being convened at an important juncture, observers said, as internally, China, while remaining on a steadfast journey toward the secondary centenary goal, is now at the critical stage of shifting gears to high-quality development mode. Externally, "profound" changes have taken place in international environment amid Western blockade against China's rise, US-instigated camp confrontation and rising geopolitical tensions. Those complex circumstances call for the CPC leadership to have a fresh assessment of the situation and formulate top-level design to sail through the choppy water, economists said.

According to Xinhua News Agency, the upcoming plenum will primarily examine issues related to further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese modernization, noted a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee in June chaired by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee.

A wide range of reform focused policies are anticipated to be high on the agenda, including the creation of new quality productive forces, steady support to private economy, coordination on development and security, as well as firm commitment to opening-up, among other items, which observers said will pave the way for achieving the country's overarching goal of Chinese modernization. 

While negative voices in the West have spared no efforts to discredit China's reform efforts or push bearish views on Chinese economy, the monumental gathering is a timely rebuttal to those smearing campaigns, observers said, as it offers a vivid manifestation of the CPC's courage and confidence to spearhead with "systemic, holistic, forward-looking" reforms even as "changes unseen in a century unfold rapidly across the world." 

The inborn reformer spirit of the Party, which has ushered the country - since the third plenum in 1978 - into decades of miraculous rise and fueled the launch of comprehensively deepening reform, is also set to decisively lead China to embark on a relentless journey to defy headwinds and create another economic miracle, scholars said. 

This optimism is derived from China's institutional advantages, which are underpinned by the CPC's governing capacity to unite the whole nation closely in working out correct solutions to challenges, foreign observers said. A clear and predictable development path of the world's second-largest economy, under the CPC leadership, will also channel stability and give a much-needed positivity to a floundering world.

Historic significance

As reform is the hallmark of third plenums, the latest one is not an exception. Some analysts anticipated the event to bear historic significance and usher the country into "deeper water" of reform areas in light of the new global and domestic situations.   

Typically, each gathering produces a landmark reform agenda concerning every aspect of the economy. 

For example, in 1978, the third plenary session of the 11th CPC Central Committee decided to conduct the reform and opening-up policy that paves way for China's decades of startling economic rise. Also, the third plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, convened in 2013 under Xi's leadership, was also hailed as a milestone as it marked the dawn of a new era of reform.

The CPC leadership has sent out resounding reform signals on several occasions ahead of the plenum. 

"Reform is the driving force for development," Xi said, while chairing in May a symposium in Ji'nan, capital of East China's Shandong Province, attended by representatives from both business and academia. The crucial role of reform was also highlighted in this year's Government Work Report.

While the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee will carry on the tradition of inheriting reform, Cao Heping, an economist from Peking University, told the Global Times that taking account of the complex domestic and international landscape that is strikingly different from the previous two "third plenums" in 2013 and 2018, it is of great urgency that the upcoming gathering provides a fresh assessment of the new situation, especially on those "important emerging issues that have yet been discussed but require immediate solutions." 

"The outside pressure is increasing … and it is also necessary to acknowledge that the Western developed countries will continue the policy of protectionism, destruction of production chains and creation of technological barriers [targeting China] over the coming decades," Alexander Lomanov, deputy director for Scientific Work under the Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations at Russian Academy of Sciences, told the Global Times.

It is therefore of utmost importance that third plenary session charts out a top-level design for the country's economic path and updated reform priorities, Lomanov added. He also suggested China to accelerate the reform and opening-up measures to address a myriad of challenges, for example doubling down efforts in opening-up and expanding the circle of new partners. 

According to Cao, the plenum also plays a "bridging role" as it offers the window opportunity for deepening reforms based on the social-economic progress made since the 20th CPC National Congress in 2022.

The report to the 20th CPC National Congress delivered by Xi in October 2022 positioned realizing the second centenary goal and advancing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization as the Party's central task, according to a Xinhua report. China accomplished its first centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects in 2021.

Observers said that one of the focal points of the plenum is to effectively promote the Chinese modernization through reforms in a variety of sectors including economic development, innovation, as well as high-level opening-up.

Zhang Xixian, a professor from the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, told the Global Times that China is now at the stage of transforming from quantity-driven growth to high-quality development, a process that sees the rise of new growth drives but is also confronted with increasing downward pressure ranging from structural slowdown, property downturn to weak consumer demand.

China is scheduled to release its first-half GDP figure in mid-July. With an expansion of 5.3 percent in the first quarter, the world's second-largest economy started 2024 strongly and is on a firm track to achieve its goal of expanding at a rate around 5 percent this year.

"We will see deeper, broader and thorough reform steps being announced at the top-level to consolidate the growth momentum and inject new strong impetus into the high-quality development path, while also diluting those rising uncertainties," Tian Yun, an economist based in Beijing, told the Global Times. 

He exemplified by fiscal reforms, which could restructure the financing responsibility between central and local governments, and stepped-up reform measures to boost China's technological self-sufficiency in pursuit of economic security.

As the development of social productivity is a key step in achieving Chinese modernization, Zhang also anticipated more scientific planning on the development of new quality productive forces, such as leveraging national strengths in boosting the development of emerging areas like artificial intelligence (AI) and big data while also upgrading traditional industries across the economy through technological innovation.

In 2024, developing new quality productive forces was written into the Government Work Report for the first time.

Institutional advantage 

China should take resolute steps to remove the ideological and institutional barriers hindering the advancement of Chinese modernization, and double down on its efforts to resolve deep-seated institutional challenges and structural issues, Xi said at a symposium in Shandong in May. 

Observers said that the remarks underscored that new breakthroughs in economic system reform will also be placed at the center of the plenum. This could include a systemic perspective to approach the relationships between the government and the market, the economy and society, as well as coordinating the protection of national security with economic development.

"The plenum can be expected to affirm the 'decisive' role of the market in the resources allocation," Lomanov said, noting that this equates to an assurance on the legal institution of China's socialist market economy, which is key to bolstering business confidence. 

According to Cao, there will be also be new signals on the Party's unswerving support to the private economy, and a further institutional guarantee that state-owned enterprises (SOEs), private businesses, and foreign-funded companies all play an important role in China's modernization drive.

China has started drafting a law on promoting the private economy, and the legislative process will be accelerated, Chinese media reported in February. 

Ahead of the meeting, several Western media outlets have been peddling pessimistic views, claiming that China's reform is "stagnating." 

Some also attempted to play down the expectations on the upcoming gathering and alleged that it would only generate small reform steps. Analysts said that the convening of the third plenum also timely debunks those badmouths, demonstrating that China is not retreating, but rather is fully committed to the Party's reformer spirit, and is in a nonstop process of forging ahead with deepening reforms to address challenges. 

There are multiple reasons to be optimistic about the prospects of reforms under the CPC's leadership, said experts.

According to Chinese and foreign economists, the CPC, with its commitment to internal reform, efficiency in decision-making and capacity in turning blueprints into concrete actions, has ensured the sustained success of economic reform over past years. 

Over the past decade, more than 2,000 reform measures have been put in place, the Xinhua News Agency reported, which enabling the country not only to eliminate extreme poverty, but also seeing its economic scale more than double to become a major global engine of growth, among other remarkable achievements. 

Looking forward, the CPC's leadership will further flex its institutional advantages to stabilize social expectations and enhance top-down cohesion in the assiduous journey toward Chinese modernization. 

"The CPC's ability to correctly assess the situation in the economy, proceed from the interests of the people, and defend these interests with all its strength, is particularly important [in carrying out reforms]," Lomanov said, adding that the leadership of CPC also makes it possible to "organically combine national security and economic development without mutual conflict between these goals."

According to analysts, it is worth noting that how CPC leadership, during the upcoming plenum, will put in place new solutions to address headwinds and march confidently on a path to Chinese modernization. And this roadmap also offers a model for other developing countries to pursue their own paths of modernization.

"China's development creates favorable prerequisites for the creation of a new type of international relations based on the principles of equality and mutual respect, free from intimidation and pressure," Lomanov stressed. 

The steady expansion of an economy that already accounts for 18 percent share of the global economy is in itself invaluable in a time when the world growth is shadowed by rising geopolitical conflicts and risks of recession, analysts said.

China's national carbon emissions trading market celebrated its third anniversary on Tuesday, marking a significant milestone in the country's efforts to combat global climate change. 

According to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, as of Monday, the market had seen a total trading volume of over 460 million tons of carbon emissions quotas and a total trading value of nearly 27 billion yuan ($3.7 billion), China Media Group reported.

The market has played a crucial role in promoting the green transformation of electricity enterprises, with the price of carbon dioxide emissions per ton increasing from around 40 yuan in the very beginning to around 90 yuan per ton now, after reaching a historical high of over 100 yuan. 

This increase in carbon prices has incentivized many thermal power generating enterprises to enhance energy conservation and emission control, analysts said.

“Price is a crucial signal for the carbon market. If prices are rising, it suggests increased trading activity and China is making progress in promoting a low-carbon industrial transition,” Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

The national carbon emissions trading market was launched on July 16, 2021, covering approximately 5.1 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, accounting for over 40 percent of the total emissions nationwide. This makes it the world's largest carbon market in terms of greenhouse gas emissions trading. 

The establishment of a national carbon market is viewed a key policy tool for actively and steadily advancing carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, reflecting China's proactive response to curb climate change, analysts said.

China aims to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.

In this year's Government Work Report, it is highlighted that efforts will be made to expand the industry coverage of the national carbon market.

In the first half of this year, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment released draft guidelines for carbon emissions accounting, reporting, and verification for the aluminum smelting and cement companies, which marks a continuous expansion of the market’s coverage. 

Xi Jinping, chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), on Tuesday conferred a flag of honor on an army company of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, which was awarded the honorary title of "Model Rocket Artillery Company."

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chinese president, presented the honorary flag at a ceremony held by the CMC in Beijing.

Concerns about the safety of autonomous driving and the potential gradual replacement of traditional taxis by driverless ones have been raised following an accident involving a driverless ride-hailing car in central China's Hubei Province. Industry observers said the industry is still in a nascent phase and that more support needs to be rolled out to address challenges brought by the development of driverless ride-hailing vehicles.

According to media reports, a netizen posted a video on July 7 claiming that one of Baidu's autonomous ride-hailing platform Robotaxi's driverless ride-hailing cars had collided with a pedestrian on a street in Wuhan.

A representative from Baidu responded on Monday stating that there was only minor contact between the vehicle and a pedestrian evading a red light as the vehicle began to move forward. The company was the first to cooperate with the police to address the situation and accompanied the individual to the hospital for a full examination.

Autonomous driving technology can theoretically improve road safety by avoiding traffic violations through high-precision sensors and advanced algorithms. However, in practice, complex road conditions and traffic have placed high demands on the reaction speed and decision-making ability of intelligent driving systems, Zhang Xu, an Analyst from EnfoDesk, told the Global Time on Thursday.

Many challenges are actually caused by traffic violations by ordinary pedestrians and other human-driven vehicles, Zhang said calling on traffic management department to enhance the supervision and meanwhile, the development and testing of intelligent driving systems should also be strengthened to better adapt to real traffic environment.

At the same time, many local drivers in Wuhan have voiced their dissatisfaction over the potential gradual replacement of traditional taxis by driverless vehicles, according to media reports, as one of the drivers said Robotaxi offers a relatively lower price which would reduce the customer's budget for the taxi fare.

Industry observers said driverless ride-hailing cars will indeed have an impact on the traditional human operated ride-hailing and taxi industries because of relatively low operating cost and stable service performance, but this is a necessary step in upgrading of the industry.

With the development of technology and the maturity of the market, driverless ride-hailing cars will gradually replace traditional manned services, driving the entire transportation industry toward a more intelligent and automated direction, they said.

Beijing also plans to support the use of autonomous vehicles in urban transportation services, including urban public electric bus transportation, online ride-hailing, and car rental, according to Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology on June 30.

Although driverless ride-hailing vehicles may reduce demand for traditional drivers, they will also create new employment opportunities, Zhang said. Maintenance and management of intelligent driving technology, data analysis and processing, development and operation of intelligent transportation systems, remote drivers, maintenance of autonomous vehicles and stations all require a large number of skilled workers, the analyst said.

Although the development of driverless ride-hailing vehicles faces challenges, with the support of policies and technological advancements, its future prospects are promising, industry observers noted.

The basic principle is that the government should formulate and strictly enforce necessary regulations to ensure the safety and compliance of driverless ride-hailing vehicles, and at the same time, efforts should be made to strengthen research and development support for the technology, and encourage enterprises to innovate and promote the application of technology.

Zhang put forward that the government should provide relevant employment training and transition support during the industry transition to help traditional drivers adapt to the new employment environment.

In response to the question of whether driverless ride-hailing cars have taken the jobs of drivers, a staff from transportation bureau in Wuhan responded that the taxi industry is relatively stable, and there are some online rumors, according to media reports on Wednesday.

Researchers from a Chinese top university highlighted the urgency of promoting life and death education, improving hospice care and reforming the funeral industry across China as they predicted that in the context of rapidly advancing population aging, the country will face a surge in population mortality.

Professor Zhang Zhen from the Institute of Population Research at Fudan University and Professor Li Qiang from Fudan Institute on Aging, Fudan University, published a paper on the topic in the latest issue of Population Research, a journal of China Population Association.

In the paper, the two scholars advocate for the promotion of education on life and death, guiding the public to develop a correct view of life and death, and creating a social atmosphere that respects life. Also, they urge the accelerated development of palliative care systems to improve the end-of-life quality for the elderly, ensuring that they can spend their final stage of life in comfort and dignity. Additionally, they emphasize the importance of strengthening medium to long-term planning for funeral services to ensure supply and demand balance, and to prevent issues such as unaffordable funerals and exorbitant burial plots from exacerbating social conflicts. Lastly, they recommend providing legal services for the protection of the rights of the elderly and for resolving inheritance disputes, in anticipation of potential legal cases that may arise in the coming decades.

In an exclusive reply to the Global Times, Professor Zhang especially addressed the significance of reforming the funeral industry and gave advices on the issue.

For example, the funeral industry should plan ahead and cope with the limited land resources in a timely manner. Government departments at all levels need to take a scientific approach and pay close attention to accurately predicting future death trends, according to another article provided by Zhang to the Global Times.

Also, the article, co-written by professors Zhang and Li, said the country should increase the proportion of public welfare cemeteries in cities. Citing the urban public welfare cemetery construction standards 2017 jointly issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the National Development and Reform Commission, the article said the proportion of public welfare graves for burial is only 40 percent, which does not adhere to the basic principles of public services.

The article said authorities should ensure public welfare funeral services and strictly regulate commercial services. Basic funeral services only include services such as body transport, storage, cremation, and ash placement, while cemetery service fees usually account for over 50 percent. In addition to other optional commercial projects, funeral costs burden the families of the deceased.

Therefore, the authorities should first improve the level of basic funeral services and consider incorporating projects such as expensive ash boxes into basic services to prevent commercial institutions from seeking excessive profits and causing negative social impacts.

The article suggested the authorities to increase financial subsidies and funding for rural funeral reform, include funeral reform funds for poverty alleviation in the budget, and strictly monitor and regulate the allocation of funds. Under the premise of government financial investment, various methods can be used to raise funds, such as using incentives to subsidize investments, the article noted.

In addition, the article said the country should utilize the advantages of new media to vigorously promote and advocate for green burials. For example, green burial methods such as sea burials, tree burials, flower burials, and ice burials should be exempted of basic service fees and provided with economic rewards. Particularly for those who choose to scatter ashes at sea or elsewhere without retaining them, greater incentives should be provided.

Chinese experts on Saturday urged Canadian politicians to maintain strategic sobriety and insist on an independent economic policy following media reports saying that Canada is considering whether to impose new tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs), even though US tariff hikes on Chinese EVs have been criticized for disrupting market competition and global industrial chains.

Experts said if Canada has plans to follow suit in announcing additional tariffs on Chinese-made EVs, bowing to trade protectionism will only backfire on Canadian companies and consumers, taking a toll on the country's business environment.

Trade Minister of Canada Mary Ng said in an interview that Canada is looking at whether it needs to raise tariffs on Chinese-made EVs after the US announced major new levies on them, according to a report by Bloomberg.com on Saturday.

"We are looking at this very carefully and we have an open dialogue with our American partners," Ng said.

The US on Tuesday announced new tariff rates on several Chinese products, including a major hike in levies on Chinese EVs, which has been seen as protectionism that violates WTO rules.

Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said that China has always opposed violating WTO rules and unilaterally imposing tariffs. "China will take all necessary measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests," Wang said.

China's Ministry of Commerce on Tuesday also urged the US to immediately cancel the additional tariffs on Chinese products and vowed to take resolute measures to defend its rights over US' announcement to increase tariffs on Chinese products.

Canada should avoid following the US in imposing protectionist tariffs to escalate the tension and further disrupt the global industrial and supply chains, Gao Lingyun, an expert from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Saturday.

Chinese analysts said Canada's actions toward China in recent years have been shadowing American practices, but blindly following Washington's footsteps is not conducive to the development of the Canadian economy and China-Canada economic relations.

Ng made the remark in an attempt to show a stance in line with its ally against Chinese EVs, Gao said, adding that Canada should consider its own interests instead of considering abandoning mutually-beneficial cooperation and acting as cannon fodder to serve the US' strategy of suppressing China's EV industry.

If Canada raises tariffs on Chinese-made EVs, it will damage its international reputation for abusing protectionism and violating of WTO rules, but such a move won't stop the rise of relevant Chinese industries, due to their small share in the Canadian market, Gao said.

"Even if Canada takes any measures to restrict import of Chinese EVs, it will cause limited impact to China's EV sector because there are barely Chinese-made EVs in the Canadian market," said Gao, adding that Ng's statement was more political motivated with little economic significance.

More than half of Japanese companies plan to expand or maintain investment in China in 2024, according to a survey by the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China that was released on Tuesday, underscoring their confidence in the China market, driven by improved business conditions and policy support.

The survey showed that Japanese firms recognize the pivotal role of the China market in their global strategy and are keen to capitalize on the opportunities presented by China's high-quality development, despite external uncertainties stemming from intensified US actions targeting China, analysts said.

The survey received 1,741 responses, primarily from the manufacturing sector. The survey was conducted from March 18 to April 12 to grasp the situation of Japanese companies in China and understand the changing market environment.
Among the surveyed companies, 56 percent said that they would increase or maintain their investment in China this year.

At Tuesday's press conference, Tetsuro Homma, chairman of the chamber, said that two or three decades after entering the China market, many Japanese companies in China still recognize the importance of the market.

While striving to secure their respective market positions and profit areas, they are adopting new measures including more investments for the future, the chamber head said.

The main reasons that Japanese firms plan to invest more include the need to launch new projects, establish factories and production lines, increase orders, and strengthen their research and development (R&D) capabilities, according to the survey.

Even for companies that plan to reduce overall investment, there is a consensus to ramp up investment in R&D and talent development, the chamber said.
China's continued improvement in the business environment has spurred enthusiasm for investment among Japanese companies, as reflected in this report.

The survey found that 57 percent of the companies said that they were very satisfied or satisfied with the business environment in the first quarter of this year, a three-percentage-point increase from the previous quarter, marking an improvement for three consecutive quarters.

The surveyed companies also said that some of the Japanese firms had excellent communication and a good relationship with Chinese local governments. Cities receiving high praise included North China's Tianjin, Shanghai, and Foshan, South China's Guangdong Province.

Additionally, 75 percent of surveyed enterprises reported receiving treatment in terms of policy perspectives that was equal to that of domestic enterprises, marking a two-percentage-point increase from the previous quarter.

Moreover, 52 percent of the surveyed enterprises indicated that China is their most important market or one of the most important markets, marking a one-percentage-point increase from the previous quarter.

Many Japanese enterprises expressed a desire to resume visa-free arrangements to facilitate personnel exchanges and expand business opportunities, according to the chamber.

"Japanese companies are voting with their feet when it comes to the future. China remains their most important market and Japanese companies are actively adjusting their strategies to minimize external risks while maximizing development opportunities in the China market and capitalizing on China's high-quality development," Xiang Haoyu, a research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

The Chinese government's continuous enhancement of the business climate for foreign investment and its further opening-up has drawn investment from foreign companies, including those from Japan.

These companies are being rational in assessing and valuing their cooperation needs and interests with China, their major market, the Chinese expert said.

In a recent interview with the Global Times, Homma said that China's GDP is four times that of Japan's, with a population of 1.4 billion. "Japanese companies cannot and should not ignore the importance of the Chinese market in their global strategy," he said.

China and France released on Monday Paris time a joint declaration on artificial intelligence (AI) and global governance during Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to France, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Tuesday. 

Experts said that the joint declaration will pave the way for practical cooperation, and serve as a model for enhancing AI exchanges and partnerships between China and other European countries. 

Signing the declaration is also seen as a challenge to US dominance in the field of AI, highlighting the limitations of hegemonic ambitions in the fast-evolving AI landscape. The era of the US attempting to assert AI global dominance is deemed unsustainable, experts said.

The declaration noted that President Xi and French President Emmanuel Macron firmly believe in the importance of continued dialogue to provide lasting solutions to global challenges. One of the highlights of the declaration is that China and France are committed to taking effective measures to address risks associated with this technology.

Both countries are also on the same page about the basic rules for AI governance. They agreed to take into account the flexibility required for the rapid development of technology, while providing necessary protection for personal data, the rights of users and the rights of users whose work is used by AI. They also committed to promoting secure, reliable and trustworthy AI systems, adhering to the principle of "AI for good."

Zeng Yi, a professor of AI at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and also an expert of the UN Secretary-General's Advisory Body on AI who participated in the formation of the declaration, told the Global Times on Tuesday that this consensus reflects the alignment of both parties on issues including ethics, safety, security and the governance of AI at a fundamental level, laying the foundation for pragmatic and in-depth cooperation between the two countries in the field of AI governance.

Cooperation between China and France can drive collaboration in the field of AI between China and Europe as a whole, Liu Wei, director of the human-machine interaction and cognitive engineering laboratory at the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, told the Global Times on Tuesday. 

Liu Wei said both sides have great potential in working together on research into the development and application of AI technology, as well as laws and regulations.

Liu Baocheng, director of the Center for International Business Ethics of the University of International Business and Economics, told the Global Times that both sides have significant complementary relationships in this field. Also, China's rapid development of new quality productive forces presents an opportunity for France to participate in China's development.

The next step will involve greater participation by research institutions and businesses to ensure the true implementation of the declaration Liu Baocheng noted.

Through closer AI governance cooperation, both sides can systematically share more solutions to address risks, such as privacy breaches and the lack of an effective ethical AI security framework, thereby minimizing and avoiding common risks and challenges facing all of humanity, Zeng said.

Another keyword mentioned in the declaration is "cooperation." It said that international cooperation in AI governance will rely on work conducted at the UN level, and China and France will help strengthen the network capabilities of all countries, especially developing countries, to address network threats related to AI development and bridge the digital divide among developing countries.

The joint declaration between China and France conveyed an image of responsible major powers to the world, presenting an overall approach to global AI governance, Liu Baocheng said. 

Zeng said the declaration is in line with China's Global AI Governance Initiative, and the signing of the declaration is also one of the representative efforts China has made at the specific implementation level as a responsible AI power, after having proposed the initiative.

Regarding the idea of China-France cooperation to counter the "AI hegemony" of the US, Liu Baocheng said that in the field of AI, the US has been seeking to dominate the global rules system. However, the reality is that each country has its own strengths, and the hegemonic mind-set of the US is unlikely to be realistically delivered. The attempt by the US to rule the world with AI is a thing that is not sustainable, he noted.