Premier Li Qiang gave the keynote speech at this year's 15th Annual Meeting of the New Champions (Summer Davos) in Dalian, Liaoning province. He has called for countries around the world to make a bigger “pie” together to promote both their own development and the global economic recovery. The world economy lacks sufficient growth momentum due to various factors including the shock from the Covid-19 pandemic, high inflation and the worsening debt issue. In his speech, Premier Li said that if countries only think about maximizing their own interests without considering that of others, and even turn back the wheel of history by decoupling and cutting off industrial and supply chains with the “small yard and high fence” policy, it will only raise the cost of global economic operations, sever economic ties between regions and intensify contradictions and disputes. Li called on all countries and regions to work closely together, oppose bloc confrontation and decoupling, maintain the stability and unimpeded flow of industrial and supply chains, and promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation. “That would even drag countries around the world into a vicious cycle where they vie for a pie, but the pie is becoming smaller and smaller amid the fight.” Premier Li's speech provides a good insight into understanding the global leadership's perspective on the economy, according to the Global Times. A transcript of Premier Li's speech is available here .
Premier Li said the right choice should be to approach development with a broader horizon and mindset, and to seek reasonable interests in making a bigger pie together, in order to give a lasting impetus to the world economy. Li said the rapid rise of new industries in China is in line with the global trends of the technological revolution and green development, rooted in its unique comparative advantages, such as an enormous market, a full industrial system, abundant human resources and talent, and diverse application scenarios, as well as the prominent role of enterprises in innovation. Li underlined the importance of building an open world economy, and called for deepening technological exchanges and cooperation.
Polish President Andrzej Duda and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended the opening ceremony of the Annual Meeting of the New Champions.
Wan Gang, former Minister of Science and Technology, suggested that the EU should consider renegotiating the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) with China, instead of going ahead with the proposed higher tariffs on Chinese EVs. The CAI was signed in December 2020 to facilitate trade and investment between European and Chinese companies. Under the agreement, EU firms can get better access to emerging sectors like new energy in China. But the European Parliament voted to freeze the agreement’s ratification in May 2021. “It is necessary for the two sides to negotiate properly to move forward together toward economic globalization. Renegotiating the CAI could be an opportunity,” said Wan, who is also President of the China Association for Science and Technology.
Officials and business leaders present at the meeting said China still has the capability and conditions to further tap its consumption potential to sustain high-quality growth. “China is moving to a higher-income country,” Zhu Min, former Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), told a forum. “The real big chance is related to the consumption bundle. The consumption basket changed dramatically.” He noted a shift in consumption from people’s needs in basic consumer goods like clothes, transportation and housing to advanced consumption in services including education, healthcare, entertainment and tourism. “So I think in the future we need to upgrade on the supply side to provide a service consumption bundle to the consumer.” Retail sales rose 3.7% year-on-year in May versus 2.3% in April.
Participants highlighted the importance of free and fair trade and the necessity to cooperate in the electric vehicle (EV) sector for green transformation. They also voiced their strong opposition to trade barriers. On the theme “Next Frontiers for Growth,” Summer Davos, held from June 25 to 27, brought together some 1,600 leading figures from the public and private sectors across nearly 80 countries and regions to jointly explore new drivers and pathways for global economic growth.
In an interview with the Global Times, Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy of Indonesia, offered high praise for Chinese EVs. Currently, EV prices in Indonesia are quite high, but some Chinese manufacturers have already begun distributing EVs here, Uno said, indicating a possible reduction in prices with the participation of Chinese players. Niklas Gustafsson, Director of Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs with Volvo Group, said at a penal discussion “we believe in free and fair trade all over the world.” Volvo Group can only sell a small portion of its turnover in its home country Sweden, because it is a small country, but “we are present in 190 markets around the world including in China,” Gustafsson said, showing how the car company needs global free trade for win-win development. Yao Yang, Professor of Economics at the National School of Development and Director of the China Center for Economic Research at Peking University, said during a panel discussion that the extra tariffs will not prevent Chinese EVs from entering European markets because China has a cost advantage, with vehicles often being between 30% to 50% cheaper than others on the market, the Global Times and the China Daily report.
