Vice premier reaffirms China's commitment to growth, int'l cooperation

Chinese Vice Premier Liu He delivers a speech at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2023 in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 17, 2023. (Xinhua/Lian Yi)

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- China will always take economic development as the primary and central task, and high-quality economic development must always be China's goal, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He said here Tuesday.

He reaffirmed China's commitment to all-round opening-up, international cooperation with other countries for world economic stability and development, and economic re-globalization, in his speech delivered at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2023.

The Chinese economy will see a significant improvement this year, and its growth will most likely return to its normal trend, Liu said.

Over the past 10 years, China's gross domestic product grew from 54 trillion to 121 trillion yuan; average life expectancy rose from 74.8 to 78.2 years; and contribution to global growth reached around 36 percent, Liu said, underlining that there are five things that China always bears in mind in making such achievements.

First, China must always take economic development as the primary and central task.

Second, China must always make establishing a socialist market economy the direction of its reform.

Third, China must always promote all-round opening-up.

Fourth, China must always uphold the rule of law.

Fifth, China must pursue innovation-driven development.

The above five points are the important experience China has learned and gained since it started its reform and opening-up, Liu said, pledging that his country will stick to them and never waver in its commitment.

China has managed to maintain overall financial stability and is drafting the Financial Stability Law, which is expected to provide legal safeguards for defusing risks and maintaining financial stability as the country goes forward, Liu said.

To tackle the risks in the real estate sector, China has been committed to stabilizing expectations, providing reasonable liquidity, relaxing restrictions that were once introduced to address the overheating in the property market among others, Liu said.

Thanks to these efforts, the supply and demand in the market has seen noticeable improvement, he added.

Looking ahead, China's urbanization is still on a fast track, and the enormous potential demand generated in this process will provide a strong underpinning for the development of the real estate sector, Liu said.

China's national reality indicates that opening up to the world is a must, and the country must open up wider and make it work better, Liu said.

China opposes unilateralism and protectionism, and looks forward to strengthening comprehensive international cooperation with all countries, Liu said.

He called for upholding the right principles and maintaining the effective international economic order, strengthening international macro policy coordination and striking a good balance between inflation and growth. He also urged a global response to climate change.

The Chinese vice premier said that entrepreneurship is a key factor for wealth creation of a society, and therefore, entrepreneurs, both Chinese and foreign, will play an important role as the engine driving China's historical pursuit of common prosperity.

If wealth doesn't grow, common prosperity will become a river without source or a tree without roots, Liu said, adding that common prosperity is aimed at preventing polarization and it can only be attained through common development and the hard work of every Chinese.

Common prosperity is by no means a synonym of egalitarianism or welfarism, Liu said.

As China grows, all Chinese people will be better off, but that doesn't mean their incomes and level of prosperity have to be the same, he said, adding that there will be equal opportunities, but no guarantee of equal outcomes.

The theme of this year's meeting is "Cooperation in a fragmented world." During the meeting, Liu met and exchanged views with political leaders, scholars and entrepreneurs of other countries.

Before attending the forum, Liu met separately with Swiss Federal Councillor and Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter and former Swiss Federal Councillor and Finance Minister Ueli Maurer in Zurich, Switzerland. The two sides are willing to jointly promote the development of China-Switzerland relations and deepen cooperation in such fields as economy, trade, finance and innovation.