"China Opportunities 2.0": Li Qiang at Summer Davos calls innovation key to resilience and opens 17th forum to 1,800 participants
The 15th Five‑Year Plan, steady growth, strong resilience and positive momentum, a call for cooperation, global AI governance and a welcome to investors. Summer Davos in Dalian brought together prime ministers from six countries and nearly two thousand delegates.
As reported by CCTV+, on Wednesday Chinese Premier Li Qiang said that innovation‑driven development is the key to China's long‑term economic resilience and steady growth. Speaking at the opening plenary of the 17th Annual Meeting of the New Champions, also known as Summer Davos, in the coastal city of Dalian, he attributed the country's steady and healthy economic growth to a stable environment and innovation‑driven development. He noted that China's innovation is the result of years of work to strengthen its own capabilities and relentless effort, its widespread application across various sectors and its growth supported by a developed ecosystem.
China's economy, he said, has demonstrated stability, innovativeness, vitality and integration with the rest of the world at the start of the 15th Five‑Year Plan (2026–2030). It has maintained "strong resilience and positive momentum" at the beginning of the new five‑year period, and its stability has provided much‑needed confidence and served as an important "safe haven" in an increasingly uncertain world. Speaking of "China Opportunities 2.0", Li noted that for businesses worldwide, this means a comprehensive expansion of opportunities through innovation and the prospect of high‑yield investments, while for global development it means broader access to cutting‑edge technologies and a wider distribution of development benefits.
He stressed that innovation‑based cooperation is an inevitable choice for overcoming the global growth dilemma, and called for deeper connectivity and cooperation, as well as broader pooling of innovation resources. Technological progress must serve the common good and facilitate more effective joint governance, Li said, adding that China will continue to participate responsibly and constructively in global AI governance. He also noted that China will work with stakeholders to strengthen institutional frameworks and rules, improve regulatory efficiency and actively address potential risks. Describing enterprises as the main driving force of innovation, he welcomed investment and business start‑ups in China by companies from all countries.
The opening plenary was attended by the prime ministers of Bangladesh, Guinea, Kazakhstan, the Republic of Korea, Mongolia and Montenegro, along with about 1,800 representatives from around the world. The event, themed "Innovation in Scale", is being held in Dalian from June 23 to 25.
Summer Davos (Annual Meeting of the New Champions) is an annual forum of the World Economic Forum, held in China since 2007. In 2026, it is being held in Dalian for the 17th time. "China Opportunities 2.0" is a term used by Li Qiang to describe a new stage of the country's development, where innovation becomes the main driver of growth. The presence of heads of government from six countries underscores the forum's international weight. The mention of AI and global governance reflects China's growing role in shaping the rules of technological development.
When the Chinese premier speaks of innovation as the key to resilience, and Summer Davos brings together nearly two thousand participants from 90 countries, the world gets a signal: China is not just adapting to change — it is creating it. "China Opportunities 2.0" is not just a slogan, but an acknowledgement that the future of the economy depends on the ability to generate ideas and turn them into products. And when Li Qiang invites investors and speaks of cooperation in AI, he affirms: openness and innovation are not alternatives, but two sides of the same coin. In a world where uncertainty is becoming the norm, the Dalian forum reminds us: stability is not the absence of change, but the ability to manage it.
