Li's Summer Davos speech sets the tone

China will further expand market access, relax restrictions on foreign ownership and promote inclusive growth and globalization, Premier Li Keqiang said on Tuesday.

Li made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the Summer Davos Forum in Dalian in Northeast China's Liaoning province.

The three-day event is expected to attract over 2,000 prominent personalities from politics, business, civil society, academia and the arts.

Read some of the responses from attendees to Li's opening remarks.

Benny Liu, Chairman of KPMG China. [Photo by Zhu Xingxin/China Daily]

"Premier Li's opening speech sets the tone of the key theme of the annual meeting by focusing on inclusive, which is the key foundation for the Industrial Reform 4.0.

Given the changes in the geopolitical landscape over the last year and the heightened concerns about 'geopolitical factors', he reinforced the importance of supporting globalization and open trades and that the success of 4.0 for the world economy can only be achieved by inclusive collaboration.

His last remarks about the fast fish helping the small fish to swim faster further emphasized this point. The support of open trade and globalization is also translated to the fact that China will further open up as the restructuring progresses."

-Benny Liu, Chairman of KPMG China

Tim Wang, Ecolab's Executive Vice-President & President Greater China. [Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

"Premier Li's point about inclusive development and growth is particularly well-timed, and a great response to recent worrying trend of protectionism and isolationism in parts of the society.

Premier Li also pointed out the importance of sustainable development, and China's determination to deliver its environmental commitment. This is a very encouraging message to companies like Ecolab, who focus on providing clean water, safe food and abundant energy to the world."

-Tim Wang, Ecolab's Executive Vice-President & President Greater China

Ge Hong, Vice-President of Airbnb Inc overseeing China market.[Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

"Premier Li Keqiang's speech pointed out the importance of the fourth industrial revolution, innovation, inclusiveness and sharing. He also emphasized the importance of employment, describing it as 'the core of achieving inclusive growth'.

We've seen central and local governments showing openness and a positive attitude towards the sharing economy, which has given confidence to enterprises in the field, and encouraged innovation.

As a business in the shared accommodation industry, Airbnb hopes to work more with the government to explore the positive role it can play in contributing to its healthy development."

-Ge Hong, Vice-President of Airbnb Inc overseeing China market

Rosa Yang, chairwoman, Global Chinese Services Group, Deloitte China. [Photo by Zhu Xingxin/chinadaily.com.cn]

"There are several points I felt were very impressive. First, employment. Premier Li said employment will be the top economic priority. He mentioned as a country with a large population of 1.3 billion, it is a very challenging job to keep unemployment at a relatively low level for a long time. He said some platforms will be built to create job opportunities and the mass innovation and entrepreneurship campaign has created many job opportunities.

Second, I was impressed that he said there will be a fair and equitable environment for domestic and foreign-invested companies. He said China will not restrict the remittance of dividends by foreign companies. In the meantime, he said China encouraged foreign companies to retain their dividends in China for further investment so as to share the fruits of China’s development.

Thirdly, I was impressed on his promise to cut enterprises' burdens to unleash their vitality. He talked about reduction of enterprises tax and pledge further measures in this regard. I think he is confident in delivering this. I'm looking forward to seeing it delivered."

-Rosa Yang, chairwoman,Global Chinese Services Group, Deloitte China

Dai Wei, founder and CEO of bike-sharing company ofo, at the 2017 Boao Asia Forum in Qionghai, Hainan province, March 23. [Photo/VCG]

Premier Li Keqiang's keynote address is of great significance.

The government's open attitude gives companies such as ofo the opportunity to develop.

I believe the sector can achieve a healthy and sustainable development through the strengths of the market and cooperation with government. We would like to follow the government's policies to develop our businesses.

-Dai Wei, founder and CEO of leading bike-sharing startup ofo