Chinese premier calls for global efforts on economic risks, challenges

BEIJING -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang met on Monday with attendees at an international development forum, calling on them to reinforce confidence and stabilize expectations in order to address the risks and challenges facing the world economy.

Li made the remarks when meeting with representatives of overseas attendees of the China Development Forum (CDF) 2023 in Beijing. Political leaders of relevant countries, heads of Fortune 500 companies, experts and scholars from renowned international academic research institutions, as well as representatives of major international organizations, attended the event.

"The current world economic development is in a difficult period of multiple complicated shifts," Li said. He called on all parties to strengthen confidence and stabilize expectations, and in particular, to keep a broad vision and take a long-term view, so as to address risks and challenges.

"It's like traveling on a rainy day. If you always look down at your feet, you will only see mud all over the ground. If you can often look up ahead, you can see the rainbow after the rain," Li said.

He also called on all parties to enhance consensus, strengthen cooperation and jointly promote global economic recovery.

Over the past decade, the Chinese economy has maintained steady growth, playing the role of "ballast stone" and "power source" for the world economy, and injecting more and more certainty into world peace and development, Li said.

He noted that in the future, while maintaining a certain growth rate, China's economy will accelerate reform in quality, efficiency and driving force, strive to achieve development of higher quality, and make people's lives better.

"All these will provide a new driving force for world economic growth and broad space for foreign companies to develop in China," he said.

Li stressed that China's economy has been deeply integrated into the global division of labor system and China will unswervingly open up to the outside world, no matter how the international situation may change.

China will align high-standard international economic and trade rules, steadily expand institutional opening up, and foster a world-class business environment that is market-oriented, law-based and internationalized, said the premier.

The foreign representatives expressed appreciation for China's important achievements in economic and social development, saying that multinational enterprises have benefited from China's reform, opening up and rapid development.

They said they believe that China will continue to open wider and make significant contributions to world economic development.