Global firms invited to explore China

Premier Li Qiang invited multinational companies on Tuesday to explore more opportunities for cooperation in China, saying the country will create greater global stability and security as it pursues high-quality development.

Li made the remarks when taking questions from business leaders at a dialogue session in Tianjin with World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and 120 representatives of entrepreneurs from more than 20 countries and regions.

Questions related to cooperation between supervising authorities and companies, data protection and management, and the response to climate change were raised during the session, which was part of the ongoing 14th Annual Meeting of the New Champions, also known as the Summer Davos Forum, that runs through Thursday.

Li said that China always attaches high importance to multinational corporations, which serve as important players and are a force in China's economic development.

"China is committed to its own development and is also always ready to share opportunities with the rest of the world," he said, adding that China is an open and inclusive country with international credibility.

The premier said China is stepping up scientific and technological innovation, modernizing its industrial system and expanding domestic demand, and a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is expected. Multinationals are welcome to participate in this process, he added.

Li said that China stands ready to work with all parties to develop cutting-edge technologies, expand new areas of cooperation and facilitate enterprises' investment.

The country will speed up building a market-oriented and world-class business environment governed by a sound legal framework. The country's policies will also become more predictable and consistent, he said. "Going forward, we will only open wider to the world," Li said.

He also expressed his hope that entrepreneurs will shoulder their responsibilities at a time of uncertainty.

"We need to look for certainties and opportunities for economic development, pool efforts to bring more certainty to economic globalization and to jointly ensure that global industrial and supply chains are stable and smooth," Li said.

A report for the Commerce Ministry released last year on multinationals in China and the role they can play in reshaping global supply chains showed that China remains an important destination for global investment by multinationals.

Ralf Brandstatter, the chief of Volkswagen China, said at the session that the close economic relations between Germany and China, especially in the automotive industry, have led to more investment, innovation and employment in both countries. "China is not only an innovation driver, it is also the world's most dynamic growth market," said Brandstatter, noting that the German company expects annual sales in China to rise to about 28 million vehicles by 2030.

Benedikt Sobotka, chief executive of Eurasian Resources Group, said that in an increasingly fragmented and multipolar world, it is important to have communications, open channels and conversations in a noncompetitive fashion.

"None of us around this table here … is strong and big enough to solve this problem (global warming) on its own. So we have to work together and it's important that we do this," he said.

Sobotka said the Belt and Road Initiative, as it develops, has become the green belt and road, which will help deploy highly competitive, highly efficient and green energy technologies around the world.