On course for sustainable growth

Editor's note: On Sept 9, Premier Li Keqiang's article "China Will Stay The Course On Sustainable Growth" was published in The Financial Times (UK). The full text is as following:

Five years on from the start of the financial crisis, many countries now face new challenges as the world economy slowly recovers.

The Summer Davos Forum, which opens this week in Dalian, will be closely watched for signs of the state and strength of the Chinese economy, which finds itself at a crucial stage of transformation.

Observers ask whether China's economic slowdown will lead to a sharp decline or even a hard landing and whether our reform program will be derailed by complex social problems. My answer is that our economy will maintain its sustained and healthy growth and China will stay on the path of reform and opening-up.

Shortly after it took office in March, the new Chinese government made clear its policy was to sustain economic growth, improve people's well-being and promote social equity. We can no longer afford to continue with the old model of high consumption and high investment. Instead, we must take a holistic approach in pursuing steady growth, structural readjustment and further reform.

Reform remains the driving force. We will continue to streamline government and delegate power, press ahead with structural changes and grow economic sectors under diverse ownership. Government will leave to the market and society what they can do well while concentrating on those matters within its purview.

We will advance reforms of administrative management, fiscal and tax systems, financial sectors and pricing. The theme of this year's Summer Davos Forum is "Meeting the Innovation Imperative". To me this means not only technological but more importantly institutional innovation, and reform is also a way of innovation.

Opening-up at a faster pace gives impetus to development. We will continue to support the Doha round of World Trade Organisation talks, work for the signing of bilateral free trade agreements, upgrade the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, and provide a level playing field and a better legal environment for foreign investors. We will explore new ways to open China to the outside world, and Shanghai's pilot free-trade zone is a case in point.

A key focus is the expansion of domestic demand. Here China enjoys one great advantage: Its 1.3 billion people are keen to work hard in pursuit of a better life and make up a huge domestic market. We will expand consumer demand through initiatives such as the promotion of the IT sector through the expansion of broadband and 4G licenses.

While focusing on consumption, we will keep a reasonable scale of investment with priority given to energy conservation, environmental protection, railway projects in the central and western regions, and municipal facilities.