Mr. Shangkong | What to expect from China's premier Li Keqiang as he seeks to reassure the global economy at 'Summer Davos'

Global investors and government leaders will have their eyes on the northern Chinese port city of Dalian for the next few days as premier Li Keqiang is expected to speak at the “Summer Davos” to an audience of over 1,700 including many who are increasingly concerned about the development of the world’s second-largest economy.

Li is no stranger to the “Annual Meeting of the New Champions” of the World Economic Forum (WEF).

“Summer Davos” was in fact an initiative launched by Li’s predecessor, Wen Jiabao, about nine years ago. Traditionally, Chinese leaders have used the event to promote – or sometimes to defend – the outlook of the Chinese economy.

Li is expected to meet select foreign and Chinese entrepreneurs late on Wednesday and to give a more formal speech on Thursday. The Chinese premier will have to convince foreign guests that Beijing can maintain its high-speed economic growth, and avoid a possible economic hard landing by all means.

Li’s speech comes at a time when global investors are getting increasingly concerned about whether the Communist Party can stabilise China's stock market, which began to crash and had no clear sign of recovery since late June due to various factors including concerns about valuation bubbles, increasing market speculation and massive capital outflow.