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Thursday, November 12, 2026Nov 12

Chinese planner promises foreign companies access to markets

Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, left, shakes hands with former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger after the opening ceremony of the China Development Forum at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, Sunday, March 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, left, shakes hands with former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger after the opening ceremony of the China Development Forum at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, Sunday, March 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, left, shakes hands with former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger after the opening ceremony of the China Development Forum at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, Sunday, March 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

BEIJING (AP) – China’s top planner has tried to reassure foreign companies they are welcome in its slowing economy in a speech aimed at dispelling growing anxiety Beijing is squeezing them out of promising industries.

Speaking to an audience that included executives of top global companies at a government-organized conference, Xu Shaoshi pledged Sunday to “promote two-way opening up and liberalization.”

The weekend event at a government guesthouse attracted foreign executives who want insight into how the ruling Communist Party will carry out its latest development plan due to run through 2020.

Business groups complain that despite promises of market-oriented reforms, Chinese regulators are trying to squeeze them out of technology and other promising industries.