Bigger role for foreign firms expected

In the wake of the Central Economic Work Conference, expectations among business leaders, former officials and luminaries of academia are rising that China will seek to enhance the confidence of foreign-funded companies and further engage them in the country's pursuit of high-quality economic development.

With details of the conference now known, they said they expect China to further deepen its reform and opening-up policy to attract more foreign investment, which will in turn create more growth opportunities for foreign investors.

The conference saw Chinese leaders finalize priorities for the economic work in 2024. They said China still has to overcome some difficulties and challenges to further revive the economy. Those difficulties and challenges include lack of effective demand, lackluster social expectations, and rising complexity, severity and uncertainty of the external environment.