Li Keqiang's speech at Summer Davos opening ceremony -- full text (1)

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Monday delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of the Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2016, also known as the Summer Davos Forum, in Tianjin.

Following is the full text of Li's speech:

Address by Premier Li Keqiang at the Opening Ceremony Of the Tenth Annual Meeting of the New Champions

Tianjin, 27 June 2016

Professor Klaus Schwab,

Distinguished Heads of Government,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It's a great pleasure to meet you again in Tianjin. At the outset, I wish to congratulate, on behalf of the Chinese government, the opening of the Annual Meeting of the New Champions, and extend sincere welcome to all our guests coming from afar and friends from the press.

This is the tenth Annual Meeting of the New Champions, or the Summer Davos, as it is known. There is a Chinese saying which goes, "It takes ten years to grow a tree." If we could compare the Summer Davos to a tree, after ten years of careful nurturing, it has grown into a luxuriant tree with bountiful fruits. It has showcased to the world the process and achievements of China's reform, opening up and modernization. It has also contributed wisdom and strength to the common development and prosperity of China and the world.

When the international financial crisis broke out eight years ago, countries resorted to various policy tools to grapple with the crisis and stimulate growth. Eight years on, recovery of the world economy has fallen far short of people's expectations: global trade and investment are lackluster; commodities and financial markets have experienced volatility from time to time; growth prospects of developed and emerging economies are diverging; and geopolitical risks and destabilizing factors are both on the rise. Just a few days ago, the UK voted to leave the EU in a referendum. This is already making an impact on the international financial markets and adding to the uncertainties in the world economy. Against such a backdrop, to promote world economic recovery and the growth of all economies, we need to make joint efforts to tackle challenges, strengthen confidence, foster a stable international environment and find solutions to address root causes of the problems we face. European countries are important partners for China. Under the new circumstances, China will continue to maintain and grow its relations with the EU and the UK. We hope to see a united and stable EU and a stable and prosperous UK.

The theme of the forum, "the Fourth Industrial Revolution and its Transformational Impact", offers people a new perspective and is thus forward-looking and relevant. Let me share with you a few thoughts in this connection.

First, to promote steady recovery of the world economy, we must actively carry out structural reform. To address the deep-seated problems in the world economy, we need to both strengthen demand management and advance structural reform to eliminate the root causes that trigger problems. Countries may face different situations, yet they should all move toward addressing economic imbalance by way of promoting fiscal and financial reform, easing regulation, facilitating competition, supporting innovation and expanding opening up, and should all work together to ensure strong, sustainable and balanced growth of the world economy.

Second, to promote steady recovery of the world economy, we must speed up economic transformation and upgrading. For the world economy to walk out of the woods, the ultimate solution lies in shifting the growth model and replacing old growth drivers with new ones at a faster pace. The advent of a new round of technological and industrial revolution has provided a historical opportunity for this. The emergence of new technologies, new tools and new materials, which are of pace-setting and transformational significance, has given a strong boost to the growth of the new economy and the upgrading of traditional industries. Countries should follow this prevailing trend by focusing their policies on supporting economic transformation and upgrading, and strengthen the new drivers of economic growth.

Third, to promote steady recovery of the world economy, we will need efficient and orderly global governance. In the face of common challenges, we need to uphold the spirit of solidarity and work for common progress. This is a sure way for us to move forward. Countries need to adopt more growth-friendly policies, strengthen macro policy coordination, steadfastly advance trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, firmly oppose protectionism and build a fairer, more just and open international economic system. The world's major economies, while making macro-economic policies, should consider not just their own growth needs but also the spillover effects of their policies. This September, the G20 Summit will be held in Hangzhou, China. The ongoing Summer Davos has a special session on "China's G20 Agenda". I find it highly relevant as it will contribute insights and recommendations to China's hosting of the G20 Hangzhou Summit.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Having experienced years of rapid growth, China's economic development has now entered a new normal. In the face of mounting downward economic pressure, we have not resorted to indiscriminate strong stimulus. Instead, we have focused on exploring new models of macro control, vigorously advanced structural reform, and concentrated our efforts on cultivating new drivers of growth while upgrading traditional ones. As a result, we have maintained steady economic development, ranking among top of the world's major economies in terms of growth speed, and made positive progress in structural adjustment. The journey we traveled these years has been fraught with risks and challenges, and we have made painstaking efforts along the way. Nevertheless, it is encouraging to see that new drivers in the economy are rapidly growing. Although they cannot yet compare with traditional drivers in size, they do play a bigger role in sustaining development, securing employment, and promoting economic transformation. Given time, the rise of the new drivers will open up new prospects for the Chinese economy.

This year, despite continued slowdown in global growth, the Chinese economy has on the whole maintained stability while making steady progress, and has performed within the appropriate range. This is indeed not easy. China's GDP expanded by 6.7% in the first quarter of the year, and registered steady growth in the second quarter. Summer grain production is expected to be another bumper harvest. Corporate profits in the industrial sector are steadily rising. The service industry is growing rapidly, and market sales are steadily expanding. CPI is basically stable, the drop in PPI has narrowed, and energy intensity and emissions of major pollutants have continued to fall. In particular, the employment situation is stable. In the first five months of this year, 5.77 million new urban jobs were created, completing 58% of the annual employment target. The surveyed unemployment rate of 31 major cities in May was 5.02%.

An important reason the Chinese economy has maintained steady growth in the first half of the year is that reform, innovation, adjustment and transformation have all played an important role. Reform efforts to streamline administration, delegate power and improve government services have given a strong boost to mass entrepreneurship and innovation, and further unleashed development potential. Now every day in China, some 40,000 new market entities are being created, including over 13,000 new enterprises. Such increase is bigger than the previous two years and has given a strong boost to job creation. The leading role of consumption and services is becoming more visible. New areas of consumption such as information and communication, smart phones and new energy vehicles are rapidly expanding. The five "happiness industries" of tourism, culture, sports, health and old-age care are rapidly growing. The service sector has grown into the biggest industry in the national economy, both in terms of its output and the number of jobs it created. An innovation-driven economy is brimming with vitality. High-tech industries, high-end manufacturing, e-commerce and other new business forms are booming. Enterprises, sectors and regions that have made an early start in economic transformation and upgrading and that embrace faster growth of new industries have all taken on a sound momentum of growth. On the whole, the Chinese economy is better structured; its quality is improving and a stronger momentum is being gathered.

We are also aware that given the complex and challenging international environment and the deep-seated domestic problems accumulated over the years, the foundation underpinning stable performance of the Chinese economy is yet to be strengthened. The driving effect of external demand on growth is waning. Private and manufacturing investments are sluggish. Latent risks still exist in the financial and other sectors. In some industries with serious overcapacity and regions with monotonous economic structure, there have been relatively more problems. Downward economic pressure remains and the difficulties are not to be underestimated. However, the fact that we have recognized and stood up to challenges shows that we have the determination and ability to overcome difficulties. For the Chinese economy, there is always more hope than difficulties. (mo