China's reform, opening-up contributes to world economy

TIANJIN -- China's reform and opening-up has made important contribution to economic development in the world and the country is still in an important development period, Premier Wen Jiabao said on Tuesday.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Davos Forum, Wen recalled the Chinese government's achievements in the past decade, underlining confidence for the future of China's economy.

With the theme of "Creating the Future Economy", the three-day forum took place in northern Chinese port city of Tianjin and gathered about 1,610 delegates worldwide.

China's reform made continuous breakthroughs in the past decade, the premier said, noting that the deepening of the reform process highly motivated the enthusiasm, initiative and creativity of the people and injected new vigor and vitality into economic and social development.

The win-win strategy of opening-up pursued by the Chinese government fully met its commitments made upon WTO accession, and placed equal emphasis on exports and imports and on attracting foreign investment and investing overseas, he said.

"This has not only helped us gain broader space for our development and economic growth, but also made important contribution to economic development in the region and the world," said Wen.

A shift from fast growth to sound growth was a fundamental change in the priorities of China's development in the past decade, Wen said, noting that China took strategic adjustment of the economic structure to raise the quality and efficiency of economic development.

China's financial system also became much more competitive and resilient to risks and played and essential role in countering the international financial crisis as the government deepened reform in this area, Wen added.

The government also made efforts to conserve resources and the environment to enhance capacity for sustainable development, as well as balance economic and social development to improve people's livelihood and promote social equity and justice, said Wen.

"Through ten years of hard work, we have elevated our economic and social development to a new level and laid a more solid material, technological and institutional foundation for future development," the premier said, stressing that China has established a path of scientific development.

The country is still in an important period of strategic opportunities for development and "the giant ship of the Chinese economy will sail ahead fast yet steadily and reach the shore of a brighter future," said the premier.

The forum was initiated according to a joint proposal by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum and the Chinese government. The northern Chinese port cities of Dalian and Tianjin have hosted the forum in turn since 2007.