Premier Li Qiang gives special address at Summer Davos' opening

Premier Li Qiang states at the opening of the 17th Annual Meeting of the New Champions in northeastern Dalian City that the Chinese economy has provided the much-needed certainty and served as an important "safe harbour" in an increasingly uncertain world.

He promises to grant greater market access to foreign investment and pledges China will continue to participate in global governance on artificial intelligence and other domains in a responsible and constructive manner.

The AMNC, also known as the Summer Davos, is an annual conference put on in China by the World Economic Forum.

This year, the event is under way in Dalian, Liaoning Province from June 23 to 25 under the theme of "Innovating at Scale," drawing more than 1,700 attendees from nearly a hundred countries and regions including premiers of South Korea, Bangladesh and Kazakhstan.

Li Qiang, China's Premier, delivers a special address at the opening plenary on Wednesday to defend the strong resilience and positive momentum of the Chinese economy, which he says has demonstrated stability, innovation and vitality.

Refuting the so-called "China Shock 2.0," the western narrative that frames its development as a shock to the global economy, Li says China's industrial advances present opportunities to the world and he pledges continuous breakthroughs in key areas during the 15th Five-Year Plan period.

The premier stresses the country's emergence in frontier sectors has been achieved through hard work and comprehensive innovation-driven empowerment.

He signals the competitiveness of Chinese products is not down to government subsidies, as some people claim, because the government "is not that wealthy yet." Instead, Li points to the large domestic market, which allows the mass and fast deployment of new technologies, and huge corporate investments.

Li name-checks tech firm Huawei and robotics company Unitree, both of which have faced US restrictions, as examples of China's innovation success.

While AI has significantly boosted innovation efficiency, there are growing fears of technological runaway and ethical lapses. Li warns if goverments are too slow to rein in, the consequences could be severe.

China has proposed to establish a global cooperation framework on AI and work with related parties to enhance regulatory effectiveness and forcefully defuse potential risks, he says.