Full text of Premier Li’s address at opening ceremony of Summer Davos

Compared with the previous times, the new industrial revolution offers greater promise in fostering inclusive growth. Driven by Internet, digital and intelligent technologies, it has created new supply and demand, greatly expanded development space and brought unprecedented opportunities for equal participation. Now, it is much easier for anyone to log on the Internet to start a business, pursue innovation and create wealth. SMEs can get on the same starting point as big companies and foster new champions through integrated innovation. Developing countries can better leverage their comparative strengths and latecomer advantage. The key is to take vigorous and effective steps to turn these possibilities into reality and help more people, businesses and nations achieve greater progress in the new industrial revolution.

Promoting inclusive growth in our times calls for upholding economic globalization, which has greatly facilitated the flow of goods, capital and people, and provided bigger markets for producers and more choices for consumers than ever before. All countries are beneficiaries in this process. At the same time, countries, both developing and developed, have encountered challenges of different forms in adapting to economic globalization. However, these problems cannot be blamed on economic globalization per se. What is important is how to adapt or respond to it. To give an analogy, one cannot blame the uneven ground for his sprained ankle and stop walking altogether. Instead, we must better adapt to and steer economic globalization forward, uphold the authority and efficacy of the multilateral system, and promote investment and trade liberalization and facilitation. In the meantime, we need to reform and improve international economic and trade rules to secure equal rights, equal opportunities and equal rules for all countries in international economic cooperation. 

Some people talk about the question of “fair trade”. In fact, free trade, as the underlying driving force for economic globalization, is the prerequisite for fair trade. Restricting free trade will not make trade fairer. Fairness is an inherent requirement of free trade, and unfair trade will not be sustainable. When problems and trade disputes arise, it is advisable to take into account the national conditions of the other side, conduct consultation on the basis of equality and mutual accommodation, seek areas of converging and balanced interests and find win-win solutions through complementarity. All countries should be treated equally under international and multilateral rules. Imposing unilateral rules on others is much less advisable than pursuing all-win outcomes. 

Promoting inclusive growth requires the hard work of countries themselves. Against the backdrop of economic globalization and new industrial revolution, a country’s ability to seize the opportunities to speed up economic development and address challenges of unemployment, widening income gap and poverty is very much shaped by its own choices and actions. We should put in place better institutional arrangements incentivizing efficiency and equity, develop a model of balanced and inclusive growth, and provide opportunities for equal participation by all. We should make education future-oriented to help the workforce better adapt to industrial transformation, remove structural hindrances to employment, and give more support to vulnerable groups to enable all to benefit from development. Talking about sustainable development, one should not fail to mention responding to climate change, which is the shared responsibility of the international community. China will honor its commitments under the Paris Agreement and carry out climate response measures on the ground, as this is also required for China’s green development.

Not long ago, China successfully held the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. The Belt and Road Initiative, which follows the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, provides a wide platform for inclusive development and offers new opportunities for all countries and businesses. We look forward to the active participation of all sides for interconnected and win-win development through mutually beneficial cooperation.