The newly signed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is connected with the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and complements other regional free trade arrangements, said Premier Li Keqiang on Nov 24 during the fifth "1+6" Roundtable.

Premier Li, along with World Bank Group (WBG) President David Malpass, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, World Trade Organization (WTO) Deputy Director-General Alan Wolff, International Labor Organization (ILO) Director-General Guy Ryder, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Secretary-General Angel Gurria and US Federal Reserve's Financial Stability Board Chairman Randal Quarles, attended the meeting themed "Promoting World Economic Recovery and Growth in the Post-COVID-19 Era" via video link.

Premier Li said the RCEP is conducive to promoting economic globalization and trade liberalization. RCEP does not just involve 15 countries. It is open and inclusive, and more countries are welcome to participate.

China is willing to work with the international community to uphold multilateralism, to work together with all parties to build an open world economy, said Premier Li.

'China's stable recovery benefits from policy implementation'

The COVID-19 pandemic has dragged down the world economy, and China is expected to be the only major economy to see positive growth this year.

Premier Li said the stable recovery of China's economy benefited from the implementation of the policies aimed at helping market entities, enabling enterprises to weather through the difficulties.

This pandemic is different from the previous economic and financial crises. It directly impacted the consumer side and crashed small, medium and micro enterprises and individual businesses, which greatly affected the low-income groups and people's livelihoods, Premier Li said.

China focuses on the use of market-oriented measures, and concentrates policy resources directly to market players, especially small, medium and micro enterprises and individual businesses.

The country is expected to reduce more than 2.5 trillion yuan in taxes and fees for enterprises throughout the year. The country also issued special treasury bonds worth 2 trillion yuan to fight the impacts of COVID-19, and established a mechanism that directly reaches the grassroots of cities and counties, improving the timeliness of macroeconomic policy, Premier Li added.

In addition, the country has intensified the countercyclical adjustment of monetary policy, adopted various measures to enhance the liquidity support to the real economy, and comprehensively strengthened the employment priority policy to stabilize and expand employment in a market-oriented manner, Premier Li said.