Premier Li Keqiang's dialogues with WEF chief and international business leaders

Editor's Note: On June 27, following his address at the opening ceremony of the Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2017, Premier Li Keqiang answered questions from Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab, at the Dalian International Conference Center. On June 28, Li sat down for a dialogue with representatives of international business leaders attending the meeting. Below is the full text of the two interactions:

Professor Schwab: In your speech, you talked about the dynamic development of the Chinese economy as well as relevant policies. I'm sure these policies can help sustain such dynamism. It is a remarkable achievement for China, the second-biggest economy in the world, to grow at nearly 7 percent. Could you please share with us in greater detail what measures the government will take to keep such positive momentum going in the future?

Premier Li: China used to grow at double-digit rates, but now the growth has moderated to a medium-high level of 6.9 percent in the first quarter of this year. Some characterize this trend as a slowdown, but that wouldn't be very accurate, as the Chinese economy has become much bigger than before. Every one percentage point of growth in GDP now would generate the same amount of additional output as 1.5 percentage point growth five years ago or 2 percent growth 10 years ago. I often use the analogy of somersaults to describe such a situation: It is much easier for a child to do a dozen somersaults at one go than for an adult, for whom just three or four would be quite an accomplishment. For major economies with GDPs of $2 trillion or above, a 3 percent growth would be no mean feat. I hope you can view the Chinese economy in an objective way. It will keep growing at medium-high speed, as we have 1.3 billion people, huge market potential and social creativity.