A press conference on the Second Session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) was held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday.
The NPC, China's national legislature, will open its annual session on Tuesday at the hall and conclude on the morning of March, 15, said Zhang Yesui, spokesperson for the second session of the 13th National People's Congress.
The following lists the highlights of the news briefing:
Cooperation best option for China, US
Cooperation is the best option for China and the United States while a confrontational relationship would serve neither side's interests, Zhang said.
(Photo: Xinhua)
He said at a press conference that it is natural for China and the United States to have differences, but it does not necessarily lead to confrontation, adding that the interests of the two countries are deeply intertwined.
China and the United States should step up economic and trade consultations to reach a mutually beneficial agreement, he said.
Economic and trade teams from both sides have recently carried out intensive and productive consultations and made important progress on many issues of common concern, Zhang added.
Both countries and the international community have responded positively to the progress, he said.
"We believe the China-US economic and trade relations are mutually beneficial in essence, so we hope the two sides can continue to step up consultations to reach a win-win agreement," Zhang said.
At present, the most important thing to do for both sides is to earnestly implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state during their Argentina meeting, and manage and control differences on the basis of expanding cooperation to ensure that the bilateral relations develop along the right track, he added.
China hopes DPRK, US to continue talks, stick to political solution
China stays committed to developing a relationship with the United States to realize non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation, and at the same time China stays firm in safeguarding its sovereignty, security and development interests, Zhang said.
China hopes the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States will continue talks and stick to political solution which is key to resolving the Korean Peninsular issue, Zhang said Monday.
He described the recent meeting between the DPRK and U.S. leaders in Hanoi as "constructive".
Zhang expressed the hope for the DPRK and the United States to keep good faith, remain patient, and continue to engage in talks toward the right direction to seek further progress.
China's limited defense spending poses no threat to any other country
China's limited defense spending, which is for safeguarding its national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity, poses no threat to any other country, Zhang said Monday.
"Whether a country is a military threat to others or not is not determined by its increase in defense expenditure, but by the foreign and national defense policies it adopts," he said.
152 countries, int'l organizations sign B&R deals with China
A total of 152 countries and international organizations have signed cooperation documents with China on the Belt and Road Initiative, Zhang said.
In 2018 alone, 67 countries signed such documents with China, he added.
China to legislate on personal information protection, AI
China plans to make a personal information protection law, in a bid to fight against improper collection, abuse and leak of citizen's personal information, Zhang said Monday.
He said at a press conference that the NPC Standing Committee will also work on a number of laws relevant to artificial intelligence (AI).
(Source: Xinhua)
