China urges France to stop using anti-ultra-fast-fashion law against Chinese firms

China urges the French side to immediately stop using its anti-ultra-fast-fashion law to infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese-funded firms, Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Huang Ling said in Beijing on Thursday.

Huang made the remarks at a press conference in response to French officials' claim that the law is neither discriminatory nor targeted and is primarily aimed at protecting the environment and consumers.

"China believes that the anti-ultra-fast-fashion law and its implementing rules, in the name of the so-called 'environmental protection' and 'sustainability' standards, in fact set clearly targeted standards and parameters to discriminatingly restrict and suppress Chinese cross-border e-commerce enterprises, which will seriously distort fair competition. The actual practices of the French side have gone beyond the scope of environmental protection and is a typical act of trade protectionism. China has repeatedly expressed serious concerns to the French side over this matter," Huang said.

"I would like to stress again that China has consistently opposed the abuse of economic and trade restrictive measures and urges France to face up to China's position, immediately stop using the anti-ultra-fast-fashion law to infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises, and properly handle economic and trade differences through equal dialogue. China will closely follow the subsequent developments and resolutely take necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises," she continued.

China urges France to stop using anti-ultra-fast-fashion law against Chinese firms

Long-term institutional funds' holdings of China A-share market value have risen 12.5 percent since the end of last year, signaling growing investor confidence in the country's capital market, said an official at a press conference in Beijing on Thursday.

Li Chao, vice chairman of China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), revealed that since the start of this year, social security funds, pensions, insurance, and other long-term sources have made net purchases of A-shares exceeding 600 billion yuan (about 88.5 billion U.S. dollars).

Li said that investment and financing are the two fundamental functions of the capital market, while the market's role is not limited to these, they are certainly among its most important features. The two functions are complementary and mutually reinforcing, he said.

Li emphasized that in recent years, the CSRC has continuously improved the inclusiveness and adaptability of regulations, vigorously promoting the entry of long-term capital and steadily deepening comprehensive capital market reform.

He noted that the capital market is undergoing increasingly profound structural changes, the momentum of coordinated development in investment and financing is forming more rapidly, and the quality and effectiveness of service to the real economy are constantly improving.

A-share long-term funds up 12.5 pct: official