China will import a total 1,500 billion U.S. dollars of technology, equipment and products within the next seven years, according to Sun Zhenyu, Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC).

Sun revealed this on June 29. He also said that China will reduce the average tariff rates from 17 to 15 percent next year, and that by 2005 they will be just 10 percent.

The country will further accelerate its opening-up process, with immediate emphasis on commerce, foreign trade, tourism and air transportation, contraction of construction projects, service industry, said Sun, adding that the country will also open up its banking, insurance and telecommunications industries in gradual steps to foreign businesses.

The government, he said, also encourages investment in agriculture, hi-tech industries, infrastructure construction, the environmental sector, and export-oriented industries, in particular in central and western parts of the country.

According to MOFTEC, foreign firms from over 170 countries and regions had made a total contractual investment of 522.52 billion U.S. dollars in China by the end of 1998, of which, 267.45 billion U.S. dollars were put in use. The number of registered foreign funded enterprises reached 324,700.

Sun said that nearly 400 of the world's top 500 multinationals have opened business or made an investment in China, and from 1993 to 1998 the country was able to attract large amounts of foreign funds, second only to the United States.

China will be able to provide greater opportunities to foreign businesses with the further implementation of the reform and opening-up policy, Sun said, adding that it will make serious efforts to improve its investment environment and related services including consultation.