We Are Open For Business: Chinese Premier Li Qiang At WEF 2024
The Chinese economy is open for business, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Tuesday in Davos and emphasised Beijing’s potential for international investment as its enormous population grows more urbanised and its middle class expands.
Li stated in a keynote speech to business executives at the World Economic Forum in Davos that the Chinese economy had revived and rose by 5.2 per cent in 2023, exceeding the official objective of roughly 5 per cent.
He stated that China’s economy was making steady development, could withstand ups and downs in performance, and would continue to provide global impetus, adding that the overall pattern of long-term growth would remain unchanged.
Li, who leads the Chinese delegation at WEF, is the highest-ranking Chinese official to meet with global business persons and political leaders in the Swiss ski resort since President Xi Jinping in 2017.
China’s Premier stated that healthy competition is critical to boosting collaboration and creativity and that the world must remove obstacles to competition and collaborate on environmental strategies and international scientific exchange.
Li also emphasised the need to keep global supply networks “stable and smooth.” In his Davos speech, Li underlined a rising North-South split that he said was becoming more pronounced, as well as the importance of development collaboration.
Li predicted that China, with a rapidly urbanising population of 1.4 billion people, would play a significant role in increasing global aggregate demand. He also stated that China is firmly committed to opening up its economy and will provide favourable conditions for sharing its potential.
“Choosing investment in the Chinese market is not a risk, but an opportunity,” he said amid outflows of foreign investments from China’s market. “We will take active steps to address reasonable concerns of the global business community,” Li also said.
However, Li made no mention of the situations in Ukraine or Gaza during his WEF speech.
According to WEF, around 2,800 leaders from 120 nations, including more than 60 heads of state, will attend the annual gathering including India’s minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Ashwini Vaishnaw and Smriti Irani.
Leaders from the world including Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission; Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine and António Guterres, Secretary-general of UN.
Earlier, Zelenskiy stated that Russian ally China must be present when Kyiv convenes future peace talks, even though no meeting between Li and Zelenskiy was on the official agenda.
