Chinese Premier Li Keqiang speaks with global corporate leaders at the Annual Meeting of the New Champions of the World Economic Forum in Dalian, Liaoning province on September 9, 2015. (Photo provided to China Daily)
Patrice Motsepe, Founder and Executive Chairman of African Rainbow Minerals: China's economic development has contributed to the success of many economies in the world. Africa, in particular, has benefited immensely from China's economic growth. So we want China to continue succeeding, because the world needs China to continue succeeding. You have repeatedly said that urbanization is the biggest driver of China's economic development. China's urbanization is facing new challenges like transport, infrastructure construction and the real estate market. How will the Chinese government push forward the new urbanization strategy? And how can foreign companies contribute to this process?
Li Keqiang: The current urbanization rate in China stands at about 55 percent. Among residents in urban areas, a large portion of them are not permanent urban residents, but a floating population. There will be a long process for China to achieve urbanization amidst the pursuit of industrialization. This also represents enormous space of domestic demand in China. China's rapid urbanization has not been all problem-free. For example, we still have about 100 million people living in urban rundown areas. These people deserve more decent living conditions. So we will continue to rebuild these run-down areas on a large scale. We will also further improve our underground infrastructure. In this respect, we need to draw on the experience of countries that have completed urbanization. We are taking steps to enhance urban underground utility pipeline network.
We also need to improve our urban development plans. China and the EU have established a partnership on urbanization. We wish to draw on the experience of both developed and developing countries, and enhance international cooperation in urbanization. I believe that each country has its own unique strength and comparative advantage to offer in this process.
The Cape of Good Hope in South Africa is very well known to the Chinese people. I visited a local company in Dalian this morning which actually named itself after this place in South Africa, hoping that this name will help the company attract more talented people and gain more managerial expertise and technology. China wants to work with South Africa to enhance our cooperation for win-win results.
Thank you.
