(Yicai Global) Dec. 27 -- China is looking to decrease import duties and complete its commitment to ease trade in line with the World Trade Organization's red tape-reducing pact next February, according to a spokesperson of the commerce ministry. 

Lowering import taxes is a concrete measure for China to further open up its market, which will help in bringing certain high-quality products into the country, Gao Feng said in a press briefing yesterday. 

The commerce ministry will seek to complete the remaining unfulfilled fraction of the World Trade Organization's Trade Facilitation Agreement by Feb. 22, according to Gao. WTO members penned the trade-easing deal in 2017. The ministry will also build a group of model zones to advance innovative product trade.

The country will boost the influence of the China International Import Expo, Gao added. Shanghai's third annual CIIE, scheduled for November, has already signed up more than 300 companies with over 100,000 square meters of exhibition area.

In the first 11 months of this year, China's non-financial outward direct investment dropped by 1.2 percent to USD98.8 billion from a year ago. The fluctuation, which was caused by multiple factors, is a normal phenomenon in trade and investment, according to Gao.

Editor: Emmi Laine