- This weblog accommodates the total transcript of a particular deal with by Li Qiang, Premier of the People’s Republic of China, State Council of the People’s Republic of China, delivered on the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions , or Summer Davos, in Dalian.
- Premier Li outlined how China had made headway because it enters its fifteenth Five-Year Plan interval, regardless of elevated volatility within the international panorama.
- He additionally urged international leaders to advance international innovation cooperation, construct bridges and generate contemporary concepts by way of trade and mutual studying.
Your Excellencies Co-chair André Hoffmann and President Alois Zwinggi,
Your Excellencies Leaders of Participating Countries,
Your Excellencies Heads of International Organizations,
Distinguished Business Leaders,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is my nice pleasure to be part of you, mates each previous and new, right here in Dalian for the Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2026. On behalf of the Chinese authorities, I want to prolong heat congratulations on the opening of the assembly and categorical heartfelt thanks to you all to your long-standing robust assist for China’s growth.
The theme of this yr’s assembly, “Innovating at Scale,” factors to a essential think about international financial growth immediately. As President Xi Jinping famous, innovation drives growth and innovation shapes the longer term. Let me take the chance of immediately’s gathering to share with you China’s innovation tales and supply some ideas on international innovation cooperation based mostly on China’s financial growth follow.
I. Entering the fifteenth Five-Year Plan interval, China’s financial system has made new headway whereas navigating a altering state of affairs.
The yr 2026 marks the launch of China’s fifteenth Five-Year Plan for financial and social growth. Since the start of the yr, there was elevated volatility within the worldwide panorama as geopolitical conflicts erupted one after one other. Global financial restoration, fragile because it was, has now come beneath larger pressure. Against this backdrop, China’s financial system obtained off to begin. It withstood the challenges, cast forward and demonstrated robust resilience and a promising outlook. The general efficiency will be summarized in 4 key phrases.
Keyword No. 1, stability. China’s financial system grew by 5% within the first quarter and has maintained a sound momentum within the second quarter. We are seeing development in company income, a reasonable rebound in costs, and continued enchancment in folks’s life. Stability might not appear a lot on an bizarre day. But, when China’s financial system, at an enormous quantity of RMB140 trillion ($20.6 trillion), continues to register regular and wholesome development regardless of the shocks of world vitality shortages and extreme supply-chain disruptions, when it continues to deliver a lot wanted certainty to this more and more unsure world and performs an important position as a secure harbor, such stable and strong stability is all of the extra valuable.
No. 2, innovation. After years of endeavor and accumulation, China has grow to be a hub of quickly rising new applied sciences, new merchandise and new enterprise fashions. In the primary half of the yr, a number of sorts of business rockets have been efficiently launched, and applied sciences similar to quantum info, built-in circuits and nuclear fusion have been advancing at an accelerated tempo. Most notably, the unreal intelligence sector has seen explosive development. Several main AI fashions have reached new milestones in efficiency, each day token utilization has hit a number of hundred trillion and ranked first on the planet by the top of May, and embodied intelligence has moved into large-scale business utility. With sensible frontier improvements rapidly sparking off a sweeping transformation of development drivers, China’s financial system has taken on a brand new look and gained renewed vitality.
No. 3, dynamism. China’s supersized market continues to unleash demand potential, particularly in companies, inexperienced and new sorts of consumption. Tourism, performing arts, and sports activities occasions simply draw massive crowds, with tickets typically bought out in seconds. Consumer favourites similar to smartwatches, good glasses, and different good gadgets have seen gross sales multiply. Flows of individuals, items, info, and capital are extremely vibrant. Over 550 million categorical deliveries are dealt with per day, greater than the full of all different nations mixed. These are all vivid footnotes to the surging vitality of China’s financial system, and true reflections of the dynamism of the Chinese market, embodying the wealthy range and excessive development potential of China’s home demand.
No. 4, integration. At a time of rising unilateralism and protectionism, China stays as dedicated as ever to opening up additional. We have prolonged zero-tariff insurance policies to 63 nations, stayed because the world’s second-largest import marketplace for 17 years working, and recorded an import development of 20.5% within the first 5 months of this yr, considerably larger than export development. We have additionally launched quite a few “Export to China” promotional occasions to make out there extra channels for high-quality international merchandise to enter the Chinese market, which has been well-received by nations all over the world. For China, built-in growth with the world has by no means been an expediency, however a strategic resolution made consistent with the pattern of historical past and based mostly on our personal growth philosophy. In pursuing growth, China doesn’t search to transfer quicker by going alone. Rather, we wish win-win cooperation with all on the planet in order that we are able to go far collectively.
These 4 key phrases – stability, innovation, dynamism, and integration – collectively current a complete outlook of China’s financial system, sketching out each the present image and future trajectory. We are assured and able to sustaining and harnessing this robust momentum to hold writing new chapters in China’s high-quality growth.
II. Innovation-driven growth is the important thing to China’s long-term, regular and sustained financial success.
The indisputable fact that China’s financial system has maintained regular and wholesome growth over time is attributed to two essential elements: the secure setting and the power of innovation. The secure setting in China is widely known and plenty of of you understand this from private expertise, so I can’t elaborate right here. As for the power of innovation, the seen outcomes and vibrant actions have a tendency to entice extra consideration whereas the strenuous efforts and long-time dedication that contributed to the successes in innovation won’t at all times be totally appreciated. In this connection, I want to underscore three key messages.
First, China’s innovation has been cast by way of relentless, painstaking effort. We are effectively conscious that there aren’t any shortcuts in sci-tech analysis. No one can copy their method to an innovation edge. There has to be stable, exhausting work to sort out powerful challenges. In current years, so as to obtain larger self-reliance and power in science and know-how, now we have steadily elevated enter into sci-tech analysis. During the 14th Five-Year Plan interval from 2021 to 2025, our whole R&D expenditure grew by a median of 10% yearly, making China the world’s second-largest R&D spender. Last yr, fundamental analysis accounted for greater than 7% of whole R&D expenditure, setting a brand new historic report for China. It is similar with Chinese enterprises, who’ve demonstrated unyielding resilience and steadfast dedication. Many business leaders have endured operational pressures led to by extended and dear R&D commitments. Some incurred heavy losses at sure levels, and others confronted unfair exterior suppression. Yet none of them ever wavered of their dedication, and their perseverance has lastly paid off. During the fifteenth Five-Year Plan interval, we’ll additional strengthen analysis on key applied sciences, considerably elevate the proportion of fundamental analysis funding, and repeatedly improve the capability for unique innovation. All this can present an inexhaustible supply of vitality for the innovation-driven and high-quality growth of China’s financial system.
Second, China’s innovation has been tempered by way of in depth functions throughout industries. Science and know-how thrives in utility. The most troublesome leap in innovation is commonly not the one contained in the lab, however the one throughout the “Darwinian Sea” that separates the lab from the market. The key due to this fact lies in higher connecting science and know-how with business. After years of pursuing innovation-driven growth, China has blazed a profitable path whereby sci-tech innovation spearheads industrial innovation and industrial improve propels sci-tech evolution. On the one hand, sci-tech progress is the wellspring of commercial growth. In current years, now we have made lively explorations in frontier and rising sectors, and achieved a big quantity of innovation outcomes which have given beginning to many new industries. The vigorous development of China’s new vitality and clever related automobile industries, for instance, has been enabled by sci-tech breakthroughs in new supplies, energy batteries and communications know-how. These improvements are the core competitiveness of Chinese merchandise, not authorities subsidies as some have speculated. We can’t afford to give so many subsidies. On the opposite hand, China’s huge utility eventualities present a robust incubator and coaching floor for brand new applied sciences. China has a whole industrial system and an enormous market. A promising sci-tech end result, backed by China’s manufacturing power, will be quickly become real-world shopper items. Likewise, a distinct segment product, positioned in a market of over 1.4 billion customers, has the potential to develop right into a sizeable enterprise and even an enormous business. With broad participation throughout all sectors, frequent suggestions from numerous customers, and repeated refinement throughout various eventualities, new applied sciences have been in a position to evolve and improve repeatedly by way of large-scale functions. Going ahead, we’ll promote deeper integration between sci-tech innovation and industrial innovation, broaden efficient home demand, speed up the large-scale utility of recent applied sciences and merchandise, and strengthen the mutually reinforcing cycle of sci-tech advances and industrial growth.
Third, China’s innovation has been nurtured in an enabling setting. Innovation immediately is extremely advanced and systemic, requiring larger-scale assets enter, stronger supporting measures, and a extra enabling institutional setting. For years, China has labored exhausting to improve its systemic innovation capability and achieved outstanding outcomes. We have been rising assist in assets and elements of manufacturing, putting in a diversified funding system with enterprises main the way in which, authorities offering steering and society taking part, constructing a batch of main sci-tech analysis services and infrastructure, and coaching some seven million college graduates in science, engineering, agriculture and drugs yearly. We have prioritized constructing innovation platforms. Of the world’s prime 100 innovation clusters, 24 are in China, rating first on the planet for 3 consecutive years. Professional, differentiated and specialised industrial clusters unfold throughout the nation, from the one-hour digital info innovation circle within the Yangtze River Delta, the one-hour motorbike industrial circle in Chongqing, to the 30-minute supporting circle in Shenzhen’s Robot Valley. These platforms have incubated a lot of high-tech enterprises in addition to “little giants” that use specialised and complex applied sciences to produce novel and distinctive merchandise. Moreover, now we have deepened reforms of programs and establishments, introducing a collection of recent insurance policies and new measures in mental property rights safety, danger sharing, innovation incentives, and so forth. Going ahead, we’ll proceed to enhance the innovation-friendly ecosystem and velocity up the event of infrastructure together with new-type energy grids, computing energy networks and new-generation telecommunication networks, in order to successfully take away obstacles to higher useful resource allocation and hold unlocking and unleashing the innovation dynamism of the entire society.
China’s quickly rising innovation capability has been broadly welcomed and acknowledged by most on the planet. Some, nonetheless, reply in a different way. They are anxious about China’s sci-tech and industrial innovation, and for varied causes, even give you so-called “China shock 2.0”. But as I’ve observed, within the current discussions about this narrative by some establishments and media shops, there are extra mentioning of an reverse time period, that’s, “China opportunity 2.0”. In the previous, China’s large market and low-cost manufacturing elements offered “market dividends” for the world. Today, whereas persevering with to present even larger “market dividends”, China can be providing increasingly more “innovation dividends” with its technological progress and industrial upgrading. What these mixed dividends generate for the world are larger alternatives and potential of growth. For enterprises all over the world, “China opportunity 2.0” means across-the-board innovation empowerment and high-return funding alternatives. As now we have seen, a rising variety of international enterprises have come to China to arrange analysis centres and regional headquarters, and grow to be deeply built-in into China’s innovation and industrial chains. This is a transparent shift from “made in China” to “created in China” – in 2025, 14,000 foreign-funded enterprises have been established within the fields of scientific analysis and technological companies, up by 27.2% year-on-year. Here in China, enterprises from varied nations can rapidly discover whole-process companions from R&D to prototyping, and to mass manufacturing, making innovation simpler and extra environment friendly. This not solely helps corporations succeed within the Chinese market but in addition boosts their international competitiveness. At the identical time, fast-growing Chinese modern enterprises may generate returns for buyers internationally that could possibly be a number of, and even dozens, instances the unique capital. For international growth, “China opportunity 2.0” means extra accessible superior applied sciences and broadly shared outcomes. China is dedicated to an open strategy to innovation. Much of its innovation is open-source. This allows extra nations, notably growing nations, to entry reasonably priced new applied sciences and new merchandise, which has enhanced their growth capability and may help deal with many difficulties holding again international growth. Today, China’s massive open-source AI fashions have been downloaded by over 10 billion instances globally in cumulative phrases, large-scale scientific services in managed nuclear fusion, quantum know-how and different areas are open to the world, and the Tiangong area station is ready to welcome international astronauts. These are proof sufficient that what China’s applied sciences and merchandise in rising areas deliver to the world will not be shocks or threats, however alternatives and empowerment.
III. Innovation cooperation is an crucial for tackling international development predicament.
Throughout China’s growth, innovation has performed an irreplaceable and pivotal position. In the broader international financial system, it stands as an important pathway to counter downward strain and reignite development momentum. At current, international innovation actions have taken on new traits and developments in contrast to something seen earlier than. First, by no means earlier than has know-how superior so quick, however the danger of uncontrollability is notably rising. AI has vastly enhanced innovation effectivity, with breakthroughs rising on all frontiers. Some name this the “Cambrian moment” of the clever age, however the dangers of dropping management and moral lapses are additionally mounting. Without commensurate governance, the fallout could possibly be extreme. Second, by no means earlier than has innovation been so deeply interconnected, but the obstacles to collaboration are rising. Collective efforts that cross disciplines and nationwide borders have grow to be the mainstream and necessity of innovation. Yet technological partitions, obstacles and blockades are additionally rising extra pervasive. Innovation that really transforms and advantages the world should at all times open up to and embrace the world. In this new panorama, solely by way of stronger cooperation can we generate extra breakthroughs, and solely by way of stronger cooperation can we rise to the various dangers and challenges earlier than us.
We ought to deepen connectivity and collaboration to construct larger synergy for innovation. In this new spherical of technological revolution and industrial transformation, no nation or firm can succeed alone. An interconnected international market allows extra environment friendly circulate and allocation of manufacturing elements, and considerably reduces innovation prices. An inclusive and collaborative innovation community permits concepts to work together and converge extra freely, accelerating breakthroughs in frontier applied sciences. China will combine extra proactively into the worldwide innovation and industrial chains, work with all sides to construct an open world financial system, collectively safeguard secure and easy international industrial and provide chains, foster extra innovation outcomes, and strengthen the drivers of development.
We ought to harness know-how for good and be simpler in advancing collective governance. Innovation drives humanity’s quest for a greater life. Advanced applied sciences ought to function instruments that profit folks throughout nations, quite than sources of chaos that undermine peace and stability. This requires higher coordination between growth and safety, and a joint effort to enhance international governance, in order that technological progress at all times displays humanity’s frequent values and advances international peace and growth. China will proceed to take part in international governance in AI and different areas in a accountable and constructive method, and work with all sides to enhance guidelines, improve regulatory effectiveness, mitigate dangers and higher promote shared growth.
Enterprises are the principal drive of innovation, and entrepreneurs bear the important thing obligations of creating it occur. I encourage you to be pioneers of innovation: look past immediately’s contested pink oceans towards the huge blue oceans forward – use innovation to broaden the worldwide market, make the pie greater and to win the longer term to your companies. I encourage you to be champions of win-win cooperation: assist, be part of and advance international innovation cooperation, tear down partitions and construct bridges, generate contemporary concepts by way of trade and mutual studying, and develop collectively by enabling one another’s success. I encourage you to keep the course with China, and put down deeper roots on this market. No matter how the world adjustments, China’s door will solely open wider. We will broaden market entry, totally implement nationwide remedy for international enterprises and hold fostering a world-class enterprise setting. We warmly welcome companies from all over the world to China to make investments and do enterprise right here, share within the new alternatives we provide, and be part of us in constructing a brighter future.
I want this yr’s annual assembly a full success. Thank you.