iGD.cWaWfOSk.jpg (Photo : Bloomberg)
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will be the nation's first high-level leader to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. The event is scheduled to occur from Jan. 21-24, five years since the 2009 attendance of then-premier Wen Jiabao.
The news was confirmed on Friday, after it was unofficially publicized on Jan. 7 by unnamed sources who were still in the process of finalizing the travel arrangements.
After Li attended the 2010 annual meeting in his previous role of vice premier, he will use the 45th Annual Meeting of the WEF to present a perspective of the present status of the global economy in the context of projections for robust and equitable worldwide growth in the future.
Central to the premier's address will be a reassurance to foreign entities that China's marketplace is genuinely willing to embrace business relationships with them.
In the mid of 2014, reports authored by Western business groups, in which they conveyed being hampered by the antitrust scrutiny of the Chinese government, Li said at the WEF in Tianjin in September that foreign and domestic companies will be treated equally. Additionally, a statement from Li on Wednesday called for government-approval procedures to be more transparent to enhance the credibility of his government.
According to vice foreign minister Li Baodong, who spoke to reporters during Friday's briefing on the Davos WEF gathering, the premier will also explain a concept known as the "new normal," which involves a different stage for the Chinese economy.
The term first emerged in May 2014, when President Xi Jinping said his country was entering a "new normal" period of more gradual, yet more sustainable growth.
The vice foreign minister said that, in addition to his speech, Li will meet representatives of the International Business Council as well as participate in a one-on-one meeting with founder and executive chairman of the WEF, Klaus Schwab.
