President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday that China will significantly lower import tariffs on automobiles and reduce tariffs on other products people need this year.

The country will step up its push to import more products people strongly demand, Xi said at the opening ceremony of the 2018 Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference.

At the same time, Xi urged developed countries to stop imposing barriers on high-tech product trading over normal and reasonable demands and loosen restrictions on exporting high-tech products to China.

China will also seek faster progress in joining the WTO Government Procurement Agreement, Xi added.

According to the president, China does not seek a trade surplus and actually has genuine desire to achieve greater balance in the current account.

Xi also welcomes friends from around the world to participate in the first China International Import Expo, which will be held in Shanghai in November.

He said the expo demonstrates China's policy to proactively open the market to the world.