Editorial | Boao vow by Li Qiang comes at right time for China and world

New premier Li Qiang has used his first formal public speech to try to shore up confidence in the private sector and among foreign investors. A boost is much needed following the pandemic slowdown, regulatory shake-ups, geopolitical uncertainties and Western banking collapses.

That is not to mention restructuring of the financial sector and of technology development to tighten party control, revealed at the recent legislative session of the National People’s Congress. This has done little to foster investor optimism about further opening up, entrepreneurship and innovation.

A reminder of the importance of the private sector in creating jobs and wealth has rarely been so timely. Li’s remarks at the Boao Forum, therefore, could not have been more apt.

They made it clear the world’s second biggest economy wants to optimise a business environment, continue opening up to foreign investment and trade and play a stabilising role in global commerce fraught with political and financial turbulence. In that regard, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, who attended the forum, said the city would play its part in striving for competitiveness and development.

The annual forum in Hainan is a recognised platform for China to communicate on economic and diplomatic policy with external stakeholders – an urgent task amid waning foreign business confidence. Li did not miss the opportunity. He reassured his audience of political and business leaders that China remained a force for peace at a time of geopolitical tensions.