Li stresses cooperation, global execs voice confidence in Chinese market

As political and business leaders gather in Dalian, Liaoning province, for the 17th Annual Meeting of the New Champions of the World Economic Forum, global attention is turning to how China will use the event to reinforce its role in championing stable growth and practical cooperation at a time of mounting global economic uncertainty.

Premier Li Qiang underscored China's commitment to strengthening cooperation with various countries in emerging sectors and enhancing development synergy, as he held a series of bilateral meetings with heads of government on Tuesday on the sidelines of the event, also known as the Summer Davos forum. The prime ministers Li met with were Guinea's Amadou Oury Bah, Kazakhstan's Olzhas Bektenov, the Republic of Korea's Kim Min-seok, Mongolia's Nyam-Osor Uchral and Montenegro's Milojko Spajic.

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During the meeting with Bektenov, Li voiced China's readiness to work with Kazakhstan to expand bilateral trade, deepen cooperation in energy and mineral resources, enhance connectivity, and broaden collaboration in emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, smart cities, big data and the digital economy — injecting fresh momentum into the modernization drive of both nations.

While meeting with Kim, Li called on both sides to seize new opportunities for innovation-driven development, and stressed efforts to advance an open Asia-Pacific economy, uphold free trade and multilateralism, and keep global industrial and supply chains secure and stable.

The foreign government heads pledged efforts to deepen collaboration with China across various sectors. Nyam-Osor Uchral, the Mongolian prime minister, said that Mongolia is ready to enhance synergy between its national development strategy and China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), and to bolster cooperation in trade, cross-border connectivity, infrastructure, energy and mining, agriculture and the green economy.

The three-day event, which began on Tuesday, brings together more than 1,700 leaders from the business, government, academic and media communities from over 90 countries and regions to discuss ways to boost world economic growth and cooperation.

Long regarded as a key platform for promoting exchanges between China and the world and enhancing practical cooperation, the annual gathering also speaks volumes about global stakeholders' broad recognition of China and their unwavering confidence in its prospects amid worldwide volatility.

Some participants stressed that the world's second-largest economy is a reliable partner for joint innovation, practical cooperation and shared growth.

Pontus Erntell, who oversees Ikea's operations in China, described the country as a strategic market where the Swedish home furnishing giant has been deeply rooted for a long time.

"China is one of the very few countries outside of Sweden where we have all parts of the value chain. It is a market where we truly want to develop, learn and collaborate with local partners," he said. "We continue to see it as a strategic market, with many advanced technologies and strong partners available to better develop Ikea."

Jiang Ying, chair of Deloitte China, said that China's complete industrial system, resilient economic fundamentals and continued high-level opening-up remain key pillars supporting the country's long-term growth.

Jiang said emerging sectors such as AI and the low-altitude economy are set to make further breakthroughs, while the coordinated development of traditional and new growth drivers will help sustain China's economic momentum.

"The long-term value of the Chinese market lies in its vast and dynamic consumer base, vibrant technological and industrial innovation, and continued high-level opening-up," Jiang said.

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Chafic Nassif, senior vice-president at communications tech giant Ericsson and head of Ericsson Northeast Asia, said that China's combination of "scale, speed of execution and innovative industrial ecosystem" makes it a uniquely critical market in the global technology landscape.

"There are only a few countries globally that are as forward-leaning as China — probably none at the same scale," he said.

Despite geopolitical uncertainties, Nassif said, "We hope China continues to foster openness, because we want to keep working together for the evolution of our industries."

Cheng Yu and Zhang Chenxu in Dalian contributed to this story.

Contact the writers at jihaisheng@chinadaily.com.cn