He told reporters at a news conference sponsored by the forth session of the Ninth National People's Congress that during the Ninth Five-year Plan period, the value of import and export increased 1.68 times from US$280.8 billion in 1995 to US$474.3 billion in 2000, averaging an annual growth of 11 percent and meeting the objective of increasing total trade volume to US$400 billion set in the Ninth Five-Year Plan.

He said, China's ranking in world trade was moved from 11th in 1995 to 9th in 1999 and is likely to be up further in 2000.

According to the minister, from 1996 to 2000, China used US$213.48 billion of foreign investment, 87 percent more than that during the Eighth Five-year Plan period (1991-1995). Average annual foreign direct investment (FDI) was above US$40 billion and China has been the largest FDI recipient among developing countries since 1993, Shi said.

In the Ninth Five-year Plan period, China further deepened the reform of its foreign trade and economic system and noticeably accelerated the pace of its opening-up, Shi said. China introduced a registration system, under which state-owned large and medium- sized manufacturing enterprises, commercial enterprises and scientific and research institutes were granted trading rights after registration with competent authorities.

State-owned trading enterprises were reorganized and restructured, which marked a new step toward the establishment of a modern enterprise system, the minister said.

Controls over the import and export right of private production enterprises were also lifted, which is of historic significance, he said, adding at present, 32,000 Chinese enterprises of various natures (excluding enterprises with foreign investment) enjoy import and export right.

Shi said, China continued to make several substantial tariff cuts and brought the average tariff level down to the present 15.3 percent, 57 percent lower than that at the end of the Eighth Five-year Plan period.

Meanwhile, the quota and license system was also reformed and China further relaxed restrictions on the areas open to foreign investment, including commerce, banking, insurance, tourism and other service sectors, the minister noted.

During the past five years, he continued, China's foreign trade and economic sector further improved its quality, level and economic efficiency; China's import and export mix was optimized with the proportion of electromechanical and high-tech products increasing to 42.3 percent and 14.8 percent in 2000.

In the past five-year period, foreign investment accounted for 12.7 percent of the total investment in fixed assets and the industrial added value originated from foreign-funded enterprises made up 20.9 percent of the national total, he said.

At present, there are nearly 180,000 foreign-funded enterprises in operation, creating nearly 20 million jobs, he said.

China has made major progress in overseas investment and economic cooperation, and the constant development of foreign trade and economic relations has played a positive role in developing the national economy, adjusting the industrial structure and improving the quality of economic performance, Shi said.

During the years when the Ninth Five-year Plan was being implemented, he noted, China actively participated in bilateral and multilateral economic and trade collaboration, creating a stale international environment for the national economic growth.

The country has also made major progress in negotiating the resumption of China's contracting party status in the GATT and accession to the WTO, which had been going on for 15 years.

At present, the multilateral negotiation is at its final stage and the day when China becomes a WTO member is not far off, the minister stressed.