Experts, entrepreneurs laud Chinese premier's address at WEF

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's keynote speech at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland has been echoed positively by experts and entrepreneurs from around the world. [Special coverage]

NEW NORMAL OF ECONOMY

In his speech at the meeting Wednesday, Li pledged that China will deepen its comprehensive reform, open the country wider to foreign investors and continue to promote the liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment.

Noting that the Chinese economy is healthier under a "new normal" featuring positive trends of stable growth, an optimized structure and enhanced quality, Li called on all countries to promote opening up and innovation, oppose protectionism, expand regional economic cooperation, and strengthen international coordination at macro-economic levels.

Commenting on the premier's address, leading European economists have said that China's ongoing economic reforms and initiatives on regional development will benefit both itself and the rest of the world.

During the economic transformation and upgrading, "the only risk for China was stagnation, but this has been overcome," Daniel Gros, director of the Brussels-based Center for European Policy Studies, told Xinhua in an interview, referring to Li's remarks that the Chinese economy, the world's second largest, is not heading for a hard landing.

China's economic reforms benefit the world in two ways, according to Gros, a former economic adviser to the European Commission and then the European Parliament.

"First, everybody benefits if China grows more strongly, especially if growth is re-balanced from investment and exports towards consumption," he said.

"Second, making the market the main determinant of economic decisions also facilitates trade," Gros stressed.

Fredrik Erixon, director of the European Center for International Political Economy (ECIPE), a world-economy think tank based in Brussels, said economic reforms that open up for more competition and innovation are key to China's sustainable development.

"The country could add a new dimension to its global economic leadership by fastening economic reforms that can reverse the country's growth trend," stated the Swedish economist.