China Committed to Multilateralism & Opening Up: Premier Li

Davos, Jan 16 (PTI) Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Tuesday said his country is committed to the cause of multilateralism and further opening up of its economy as well as sharing of market opportunities with the world.

In a special address at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2024 here, he reaffirmed China's commitment to ensuring a business-friendly environment for international cooperation.

He called for tighter multilateral coordination of macroeconomic policy, international cooperation on green development and better North-South cooperation.

Li also offered an optimistic prognosis for China's macroeconomic health and assurances on pro-business policies to multinational companies.

Addressing the theme of 'Rebuilding Trust' of the WEF annual meeting, Li listed five proposals to address the trust deficit in the global macroeconomy.

These included better international coordination of macroeconomic policy; more industrial specialization among countries in order to stabilize supply chains; more open international exchange of scientific and technological know-how; enhanced international collaboration on green development and addressing climate change; and better North-South cooperation.

Premier Li said the theme, rebuilding trust, of this meeting echoes with people's concerns.

"It was trust that paved the way for economic development over the past decade. The foundation of trust has eroded and lack of trust is coming in the way of global development.

"It is essential that we discard prejudices and work towards removing trust deficit," he said.

On China's recent economic performance, Li said that the country's contribution to global growth has remained steady at about 30 per cent, and that its scientific and technological talent pool remains the world's largest.

"Looking at the broader picture, we are now advancing Chinese modernization on all fronts through high-quality development," Li said.

"Delivering modernization to more than 1.4 billion people will be a remarkable achievement in human history, one that will provide continuous impetus to the development of China and the wider world," he added.

The size of China's middle class, already at 400 million, will continue to swell to 800 million over the coming decade, Li said, and urbanization rates remain 10 per cent lower than in developed countries, indicating that migration to cities will continue apace, creating market opportunities as newly urban households upgrade their consumption.

"All this will create massive demand in areas such as housing, education, medical services and elderly care," he said.

Li noted China's contributions towards decarbonization, citing that over half of the world's new energy vehicles run on roads in China.

"The new energy vehicle ownership rate reached 20 million by the end of last year, and China contributes one-fourth of the increased area of afforestation in the world," he said.

He also reaffirmed China's commitment to further opening its economy, sharing these market opportunities with the world and ensuring a business-friendly environment for international cooperation.

"We embrace investments from businesses of all countries with open arms and will continue to work tirelessly to foster a market-oriented, law-based and world-class business environment that we will steadily expand," Li said.