Foreign guests share views on Premier Li’s speech at Summer Davos

Premier Li Keqiang delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of the Annual Meeting of New Champions 2015 in Dalian on Sept 10, which aroused heated discussion among foreign guests attending the event, the Economic Daily reported on Sept 11.

The following is a translated excerpt from the original report:

Though China’s economic growth has slowed and fluctuations have occurred in the capital market, China is still the engine driving world economic growth. The Chinese government adopted prompt and effective measures to fend off market fluctuation and stabilize the economy, signaling the Chinese government’s responsible attitude to international society as well as foreign investors.

International production capacity cooperation is a means to optimize the allocation of global resources, answering the needs of economic development for the world and nations as well. It will bring economic benefits, and contribute to environmental protection and the tackling of climate change.

— Alexander Mora,

Costa Rica’s minister for foreign trade

The Renminbi has become the world’s second biggest settlement currency and the fifth biggest payment currency. The International Monetary Fund will decide whether to include the Renminbi into the special drawing right basket, which will be a milestone for the currency.

Some people believed that the expected depreciation of the Renminbi would trigger a currency war. However, it’s a meaningless assumption for a currency to challenge another one. The Renminbi’s rise as an international reserve currency comes naturally with the rising of China’s economic strength and the currency’s circulation.

— Adair Turner,

chairman of the governing board , Institute for New Economic Thinking

It’s a sheer misreading that China is a source of risk for the world economy. The Chinese economy still enjoys a relatively high growth rate, and contributed about 30% to global growth in the first half of the year.

A lower growth rate does not mean that China has exhausted its growth impetus, but the economy is driving on a more sustainable and vibrant lane.

The Chinese people are very ready to accept the new, and innovation among the masses will generate the power to turn the Chinese economy into a consumption-driven economy. I believe with the support of government policies and funds, mass innovation will become a major engine for China’s stable and sustainable economic development.

— Maria T. Pinelli,

global vice chair of strategic growth markets for EY Global