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DAVOS, Switzerland – Chinese Premier Li Qiang said yesterday the Chinese economy was open for business and highlighted its potential for foreign investment, saying the world needed to pull down barriers to competition and trade to tackle global challenges.

As China grapples with a sluggish post-pandemic recovery and a real estate slump, overseas executives have grown concerned about its long-term growth prospects for the first time in the four decades since Beijing opened it up to foreign investment.

Li said in a keynote speech to business leaders at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos that the Chinese economy had rebounded and moved upwards, and was estimated to have grown around 5.2 percent in 2023, above the official target of around 5 percent.

He said that China’s economy was making steady progress, could handle ups and downs in its performance and would continue to provide global impetus, adding that its overall trend of long-term growth would not change.

Li, who leads a large government delegation at this week’s WEF, is the most senior Chinese official to rub shoulders with global business and political elites at the Swiss ski resort since President Xi Jinping in 2017. 

The Chinese delegation includes Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, the governor of the People’s Bank of China and high-ranking representatives from other ministries, including Deputy Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu.

China’s premier said healthy competition was key to enhancing cooperation and innovation, adding that the world needed to remove barriers to competition and cooperate on environmental strategies and international scientific exchange.

Li also highlighted the importance of keeping global supply chains “stable and smooth”.

In his speech in Davos, Li highlighted a growing North-South divide, which he said was becoming more acute, and stressed the need for cooperation on development.

Li said China, with a rapidly urbanizing population of 1.4 billion people, would play an important role in boosting aggregate global demand. He also said China remained “firmly committed” to opening up its economy and would create “favourable conditions” to share its opportunities.

“Choosing investment in the Chinese market is not a risk, but and opportunity.” 

His past overtures declaring China open for business have been met with scepticism in some boardrooms in light of a broader anti-espionage law, raids on consultancies and due diligence firms and exit bans, trade bodies say.

“We will take active steps to address reasonable concerns of the global business community,” Li said. 

He later met business and finance leaders including JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters and Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman during a lunch.

Li will hold talks with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, but it is not yet clear if he or the deputy foreign minister will meet U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken

WEF organisers said more than 2 800 leaders from 120 countries, including more than 60 heads of state, were due to participate at the annual meeting.

Li did not mention conflicts in Ukraine or Gaza during his WEF speech and investors are on the lookout for any bilateral meetings on the sidelines, especially with Middle Eastern leaders.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on Sunday for a larger, more authoritative Israeli-Palestinian peace conference and a timetable to implement a two-state solution as the Gaza conflict escalated and the Red Sea became a new flash point.

Politicians and business leaders will discuss how to build consensus on a multitude of risks worldwide including climate change and a cost-of-living crisis.

Attendees will also grapple with how to maintain global trade after attacks by Yemeni rebels in the Red Sea disrupted the key conduit for Asia-Europe shipping.

Artificial intelligence will also dominate discussions after last year’s flurry of examples demonstrating the technology’s dizzying advances.

Despite the excitement, there are worries about the threats posed by AI.

Misinformation and disinformation driven by AI ahead of elections in countries, including the United States, are the biggest global risks this year and next, the WEF said last week.

The International Monetary Fund’s managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, said in an interview that AI would affect 60 percent of jobs in advanced economies.

There will be an array of discussions at Davos during formal and informal events with some of the biggest names in tech, including the chief executive of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, and OpenAI’s Sam Altman. – Reuters-AFP