Economic Daily:

We noticed the Ministry of Commerce has held onsite meetings on the development of pedestrian streets in Hangzhou city recently. And Mr. Zhong has mentioned many times that the pedestrian street is a calling card of a city. So, my question is what progress has been made in renovating existing pedestrian streets and upgrading consumption through this channel. And what's the next step? Thanks. 

Zhong Shan:

Thanks for your questions. The renovation of pedestrian streets is one of our efforts to upgrade consumption. We focus on three parts. In terms of urban consumption, we are speeding up renovation of existing pedestrian streets, and the development of a commercial network composed of convenience stores and grocery stores. The pedestrian street is considered as an important platform to upgrade consumption, promote high quality development and open wider to the outside world. 

In terms of rural consumption, we are enhancing our efforts to channel industrial goods to the countryside and agricultural goods to the cities. We have developed e-commerce in the countryside and accelerated poverty relief work through such means, in a bid to invigorate rural markets and boost farmers' income. Now, e-commerce covers all the national designated poor counties. We have built over 1,700 county-level e-commerce service centers and logistic distribution centers. And 105,000 e-commerce service stations have already opened in rural areas. Most of the goods ordered online can be delivered within three days. 

In terms of service consumption, we will work on increasing supplies. The traditional services keep growing, and there is a growing demand in tourism culture, medical health, elderly care and other new services. 

Kyodo News:

The China-Japan-Republic of Korea Free Trade Agreement (CJK FTA) set a very important goal, so what's the recent progress? There are only three months to go this year, how are the RCEP negotiations progressing? What's your take on that? Thanks. 

Wang Shouwen:

Thanks for your questions. First, I will answer your question about RCEP. This is short for Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, and is seen as the world's most populous and promising free trade agreement negotiations. All the 16 member states have reached a consensus on the great significance of reaching a mega free trade agreement in a world that faces rising protectionism. This year, we have held two ministerial meetings and seven trade negotiations, plenary sessions and special sessions, which meanssome form of negotiations have been held every month. We held a ministerial meeting in Beijing this August, and in Thailand this September. During these two meetings, ministers reiterated goals set by the leaders last year to conclude the negotiations for the RCEP by the end of this year. Now, the RCEP negotiations are speeding up and we have seen great progress in terms of market access. In terms of the rules, there are only a few remaining issues. For these, all members of the RCEP decided to hold another ministerial meeting in Thailand next month. China is committed to promoting the leading role of ASEAN in these negotiations. And China is willing to join hands with other members of the RCEP to ensure a positive trend in the negotiations for a speedy conclusion. 

Wang Shouwen:

Once the deal of the CJK FTA is achieved, it will be of great significance to the development and integration of the three economies. The leaders of the three countries are paying close attention to the agreement. General Secretary Xi Jinping has stressed many times that China is willing to promote the negotiations to reach the agreement. Now, the three countries have reached a consensus to speed up the process. And the agreement should be comprehensive, high-level and beneficial to all members. It can be considered as "RCEP +," which means better than RCEP. Now, the three countries have decided to hold a further 16 rounds of negotiations in South Korea and strive for a new round of negotiations in China before the end of this year. We believe that, based on the RCEP negotiations, the CJK FTA will surely achieve more progress. And all the three countries are willing to seek such a step. Thanks.