“Financial crisis will not happen in China!”, the Chinese Premier underlines from Switzerland; the Sting reports live from World Economic Forum 2015 in Davos

Li Keqiang, Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China at World Economic Forum 2015 in Davos, Switzerland (WEF, 21/01/2015)

On the first day of the World Economic Forum 2015 in Davos it was the turn of the Chinese Premier to take the floor and perform a much awaited speech. Professor Schwab introduced Mr Li Keqiang, Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, with great honour and interest. Mr Keqiang made one of the most stimulating speeches at World Economic Forum 2015 in Davos.

Mr Keqiang started his speech with his beautiful walk on the mountains over Davos earlier that morning. He said he was impressed by the natural beauty of the Swiss Alps and by the serenity and peacefulness of the Davos town. However, as the Chinese Premier underlined, the world unfortunately is not that peaceful today. The Chinese leader referred to the latest terrorist attacks that Europe has suffered.

While he recognised that Davos is the world’s centre for brainstorming, he said “we cannot solve problems with the same way of thinking we had when creating them”. Thus, Mr Keqiang stressed the necessity to learn lessons from history. Despite the very difficult times that the world is being through lately, the Chinese Premier continued, it is exactly in difficult times that the world has joined forces to overcome difficulties. The times of “cold war” or “zero sum” or “winner takes all” mentalities belong in the past, Mr Keqiang insightfully posits.

China is opposed to terrorism in all its manifestations, the Premier unfolds his thoughts later. We should all seek to live in harmony. He then stressed  the importance of co-existence of all cultures and nations in the world. He interestingly commented that cultural diversity is as important as biodiversity in the globe. Nations and cultures should mutually respect one another and create a status of harmony in their relations. For that, co-ordination is necessary.

Moving on to the global economy, where China is certainly a significant player with its frenetic rhythms of growth and potential, the Chinese leader said that we need to follow the trend of the times. Since China is certainly a major trade partner in the global economy, Mr Keqiang is convinced that the global value chain needs to be constantly enriched and updated. In that direction, he also clearly mentioned the need of structural reforms both in his country and globally.

What is more, the Chinese Premier openly admitted and commented on the substantial slow-down of the Chinese economy. From high speed economy it has turned to medium-high speed economy. Of course this abides by economic laws, he maintained. Nevertheless, the Chinese economy is still the second largest economy in the world. The Chinese Premier in a reassuring tone to the leaders of the world inside the main Congress Hall of the World Economic Forum said the following: “if I could compare the Chinese economy with a fast speed train, this train will not lose speed or momentum but will find speed”.

Furthermore, Mr Keqiang gave a responsible answer to all those that are being sceptic about China’s growth rate slow down. He said that his country will overcome this and control it with reforms. He announced a strategic focus on proactive fiscal policy in China. In addition, he would fine-tune the Chinese economy and upgrade its structure. “Financial crisis will not happen in China!”, the Chinese top official underlined with caliber. All security precautions that are safeguarding the Chinese economy have been taken, he stressed.

Mr Keqiang fosters a more vigorous micro-economy for the Asian giant. More quality employment for young people is also a vital point in his policy agenda. He is eager to “reshare public wealth”, as he maintains. The burden of the economic excellence in China will be shared both by the market and the government, he decisively stated. For that, innovation will play a primordial role. Entrepreneurship will be a key for China to satisfy its high goals.

The Chinese Premier shared with us his experience from a recent visit he paid to a small village in China with 700 households, where its inhabitants had started up 2.000 online stores! As impressive as that may sound, Mr Keqiang elaborated further that there are over 70 million companies and independent professionals in China. “The story of the village”, as the Chinese leader referred to it, is a brilliant example of how hard working Chinese people are.

One of the most important policy targets of the Chinese Premier will be to expand China’s demand and consumption. Moreover, and this is of crucial importance for China, he appeared committed to create opportunities and give people the ability to enjoy Chinese social welfare and industry. What is more, he set the bar extremely high with regard to incentivise all the markets in the Chinese economy. Most importantly, in a very open and sincere statement the Premier left no doubt that he will put an end to corruption in China.

Mr Keqiang continued by saying that China now has a substantial production of significant intellectual property. He is proud of some remarkable achievements that his country has made in the last few years. He gave the example of fantastic projects in infrastructure, to begin with. The Chinese railway has been significantly upgraded and it is China’s jewel in infrastructure, connecting big metropolitan centers of great distance at no time. The Premier made a special remark about how China has conducted outstanding synergies with western companies in major infrastructure projects in aviation, or nuclear energy. Last, the Premier did not omit to refer to exports, the engine power of China that are growing rapidly and contribute to the world’s economy as well.

Ending this very well structured political speech and being inspired by the Alpine surroundings, the Premier of China said: “there are three properties of a good skier; have the right speed, be balanced and be courageous”. His last word in Davos was about peace and how the world needs to maintain it at any cost, in order to overcome difficulties and evolve.

Then, Mr Schwab took the floor after Mr Keqiang finished his stimulating thoughts. He thanked the Chinese leader for taking part at the World Economic Forum 2015 in Davos.

Last, but certainly not least, the German founder of WEF, in reply to the Chinese Premier’s reference to the “good skier”, he smartly chose to end the session by wishing to the global markets “good skiing at the slopes of the Chinese economy”.

Stay tuned at the European Sting, the only Brussels media that effectively broke the “Brussels bubble” and made it to Davos with live critical coverage of the most important sessions of the World Economic Forum 2015.

You can view his full speech from Davos here: