BEIJING - China will continue to broaden market access and open up its service sector as part of efforts to keep foreign investment stable amid the COVID-19 epidemic, the country's commerce minister said Monday.

Noting that the pandemic has inevitably brought challenges to cross-border investment, Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan said at a press conference that the country will take various measures to stabilize foreign investment.

The commerce ministry will also focus on implementing the Foreign Investment Law, creating a fair and competitive market environment for foreign investors, Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan said

China will roll out incentives to attract foreign investment into the country's central and western regions, as well as the old industrial bases in the northeast regions, which have abundant development potential with the help of government supportive measures, Zhong said.

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The country will expand the scope of pilot free trade zones, give them greater autonomy in their reform, and further accelerate the construction of a free trade port in south China's Hainan province, Zhong said.

The ministry will also focus on implementing the Foreign Investment Law, creating a fair and competitive market environment for foreign investors, he said.

China has abundant and high-quality labor resources, a mature and supportive industrial system and a market with a population of 1.4 billion, all of which are advantages in attracting foreign investment, Zhong said.

"No smart entrepreneurs will give up the huge Chinese market," he said.  

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Socialist market economy

Also on Monday, China issued a guideline to accelerate the improvement of its socialist market economy in the new era to build a high-level socialist market economy that is more systematic, mature and well-shaped.

According to the guideline, China will uphold and improve the basic socialist economic system of keeping public ownership as the mainstay and allowing multiple forms of ownership to develop together.

As per the guideline, stress will be on minimizing the government's direct allocation of market resources and direct intervention in microeconomic activities.

China will unswervingly expand opening-up, draw on the experience of other mature market economy systems and achievements of other civilizations, and accelerate efforts to align domestic systems and rules with international ones, according to the guideline.