Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Thursday said he opposed bloc confrontation and a new “Cold War” in an obscure warning to the United States, which has been involved in escalating competition with China, Kyodo News reported.
In a keynote address at the Boao Forum for Asia, Li insisted China “will always be a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development and a defender of international order” despite growing concerns over China’s arms buildup and increased military pressure on Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own. According to a report published in Kyodo News, Li’s remarks at the event on southern China’s Hainan Island is billed as Asia’s alternative to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, came as the US hosted a virtual summit on democracy amid an escalating rivalry between Washington and what it terms “autocracies” like China and Russia.
While Washington tries to tighten limitations on Beijing’s access to advanced technologies like semiconductors, the premier also declared that China opposes “trade protectionism and decoupling” and called for actions to safeguard the integrity of the global industrial supply chain.
Li sounded optimistic about the prognosis for the second-largest economy in the world, citing strong momentum for its growth, despite recent US bank failures and global economic worries brought on by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and increased financial risks.
Li said, “Judging from the situation in March, it is better than in January and February. In particular, major economic indicators such as consumption and investment continue to improve, while employment and prices are generally stable”, Kyodo News reported.
China’s economy, which suffered last year as a result of the negative effects of its strict “Zero-Covid” policy, which involved lockdowns and quarantines, has been slowly recovering. The premier, who took office earlier this month, vowed that Beijing will “always adhere to reform and opening up” in order to “inject new impetus and vitality” into the global economy and permit other nations to share the advantages of China’s development.
The first entirely in-person gathering since the COVID-19 outbreak, the four-day annual conference has attracted around 2,000 attendees from about 50 nations and regions as of Friday. The meeting, which was first convened in 2002, is being attended by the prime ministers of Singapore, Malaysia, and Spain as well as Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Kyodo News reported.