China will continue to cut its tariffs and expand imports of high-quality goods and services, President Xi Jinping said today, while promising reforms and promote an innovation-driven growth model.

“We will further reduce tariffs and institutional costs..., and expand imports of high-quality products and services from all countries,” Xi said in a keynote speech via video at the APEC CEO Dialogues, ahead of a leaders’ virtual summit on the future of international cooperation on Friday.

The Malaysia delegation of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) is hosting the forum under the theme of "APEC Re-imagined: Priorities in the Aftermath of COVID-19."

China will pursue higher quality growth through its “dual circulation” development model, driven by technological innovation, Xi said.

Xi also called for stronger policy coordination among international communities and said globalization is “irreversible” and that China will not engage in “de-coupling.''

“Our new development pattern is not a closed domestic single circulation, but an open and mutually promoting domestic and international dual circulation,” Xi said.

The “dual circulation” strategy envisages that China’s next phase of development will depend mainly on “domestic circulation” or an internal cycle of production, distribution and consumption, backed by domestic technological innovation.

China will take a more active part in the international division of labor, get more effectively integrated into global industrial, supply and value chains, and more enthusiastically expand exchanges and cooperation with other countries, state media reported.

"We welcome cooperation with any region, country or company that wants to do so," he said.

"As the Asia-Pacific economies are connected by the same ocean, we benefit from close interactions between our peoples and geographic proximity," Xi said, adding that China will continue to firmly support the multilateral trading system.

"Let us not forget that we are a community with a common stake, and let us move toward closer regional economic integration," Xi said.

Xi also said China will sign free trade pacts with more countries and will promote a high-quality Belt and Road initiative.

At a key meeting last month, Xi and other leaders laid out a blueprint for China’s five-year plan and key objectives for the next 15 years. They include a goal to turn China into a “high income” nation by 2025 and advance to a “moderately developed” nation by 2035.-Reuters/state media

President Xi Jinping says China's new development pattern is 'open.'

China promises to cut import duties further