Li said the Chinese government was “carefully” studying some of the issues raised frequently by businesses, including market access, public tendering and cross-border data flow.

He also said Beijing would make government services more efficient and protect the lawful rights and interests of businesses of all types.

“We are convinced that a more open China will bring more opportunities of win-win cooperation to the world,” he said.

Migrant workers, not lavish infrastructure, seen key to China’s spending boost

Hundreds of millions of Chinese have moved from the countryside to urban areas, powering China’s economic development over the decades. But their residency remains tied to rural areas, limiting their access to better welfare services in cities.

Li said that less than half of the Chinese population had permanent urban residency, far below the roughly 80 per cent rate in developed economies.

“The potential for raising China’s urbanisation rate remains huge,” he said.

“Every percentage point increase in the urbanisation rate [in China] means moving some 14 million rural residents to cities.”

How expanding China’s urban residency may unleash 2 trillion yuan in spending

The two-day China Development Forum brings together businesspeople, academics and officials, and is one of the few venues where foreign business leaders can interact with China’s state leaders.

This year’s event comes as Beijing doubles down on efforts to revive confidence in the Chinese economy at home and abroad.

Addressing the forum, International Monetary Fund managing director Kristalina Georgieva said low productivity growth and an ageing population would dampen growth in the medium term but China could grow considerably faster with pro-market reforms.

“China faces a fork in the road – rely on the policies that have worked in the past or reinvent itself for a new era of high-quality growth,” Georgieva said.

President Xi Jinping signalled China’s interest in foreign investment and hi-tech firms with a trip last week to BASF Shanshan Battery Materials, a Chinese-German joint venture producing lithium battery materials in the central province of Hunan.

Commerce Minister Wang Wentao has also met an array of top global tech, finance and pharmaceutical executives, including Apple chief Tim Cook as well as the CEOs of US chip markers Qualcomm and Micron and South Korean semiconductor producer SK Hynix.

During his speech, Li said the Chinese economy “got off to a good start” this year, citing “rapid” growth in industrial output, aggregate financing, industrial electricity consumption, cargo transport and travel.

China has set its growth target for 2024 at around 5 per cent, the same as last year and in line with market estimates but still widely viewed as “ambitious” given the multifold challenges facing the economy.

Li told the global business leaders that the goal has taken into account the need to boost employment and incomes and prevent and defuse risks.

“We hope to provide greater certainty and positive energy for world economic recovery and stability,” he said.

02:09

China’s young abandon consumerism in favour of fulfilling experiences

China’s young abandon consumerism in favour of fulfilling experiences

China’s economic data for the first two months of the year beat analysts’ expectations, but scepticism has persisted as the country’s property crisis and local government debt have worsened.

Li moved to play down those worries.

“As for the actual situation on the ground, some of the difficulties and problems are not as grave as some may have imagined,” he said, noting that “robust measures” introduced last year in relation to the real estate sector and local government debt had delivered “positive results”.

“China’s price level is now relatively low and the central government’s debt ratio is not high, which provides ample space for stepping up macro policies,” Li said.

He said central government fiscal measures this year, including the 1 trillion yuan (US$138.3 billion) ultra-long special treasury bonds, would “provide more opportunities for businesses” and that the authorities would continue to push for “a steady drop” in overall financing costs in the country.

“We will also … include non-economic policies in the evaluation of the consistency of macro policy orientation to make sure that all policies are aligned and create synergy,” he added.

Xi Jinping’s hi-tech push steals the spotlight at China’s ‘two sessions’

Pointing to other sources of potential growth, Li said Beijing’s push for large-scale industrial equipment renewals and the trade-in of cars and home appliances would lead to trillions of yuan worth of business opportunities each year.

“China is now working to build a modernised industrial system with advanced manufacturing as its backbone, which is also an opportunity for the world,” Li said.

Highlighting “profound changes” in the international environment, he said “the Chinese economy today is more deeply integrated with the world economy than ever before”.

“We warmly welcome companies from all over the world to invest and cultivate your business in China and embrace the great opportunities provided by China’s continuous development,” Li said.

Zheng Shanjie, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, the country’s top economic planning agency, told the forum that China would pilot market access for foreign businesses in various areas including value-added telecommunication services, and genetic diagnostics and therapeutic technologies.

China eases security checks for cross-border data transfers to help boost economy

Evan Greenberg, chief executive of Swiss insurer Chubb and co-chairman of the forum, said China’s high-quality workforce, vast market, well-developed infrastructure and manufacturing prowess made the country attractive to foreign businesses.

“China is … a place where competitive multinational companies want to do business,” Greenberg said.

He also highlighted the importance of the nation’s “vibrant and dynamic” private sector in bolstering economic growth through generating confidence to invest, expand business and create employment, which in turn leads to consumer confidence.

“Confidence is key,” Greenberg said.

Additional reporting by Ben Jiang