“China is not the source of global economic risks. Instead, it is a driving force for global economic growth,” said Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the World Economic Forum in Dalian on Wednesday. As he met with business leaders at the annual meeting, he clearly expressed his confidence in China's economy.

Answering the question “What is the new driving force of China's economic growth?” Li Keqiang said, “The world economy is still going down. China’s economy also bears downward pressure.” China’s economy could be described as “having a bright future in spite of fluctuations”, and the trend still points to a better position. That’s because China had 7 percent growth in the first half of the year, the best rates among major economies in the world.

“I once said that as long as there are enough jobs, household income grows at the same pace as GDP growth, and the environment is constantly improving, such a growth rate is satisfactory. Urban unemployment rate in the first six months was 5.1 percent, and 7 million new urban jobs were created. This indicates that China’s economy is operating within a reasonable range,” Li explained.

There were reports about China’s “deteriorating environment” for foreign investment. Li maintained that China’s general policy of using FDI will not be changed, but specific policies are indeed evolving towards the direction of attracting more foreign investment and opening more fields to foreign companies. For instance, China has broadened fields for foreign investment, and lifted restrictions on 50 percent of the items since this year. To better facilitate foreign investment, China has basically changed from the approval system to a record-keeping system. Now only less than 5 percent of the items need to be approved.

Li said China is exploring a new regulation model with pre-establishment national treatment and the negative list. China negotiates for a bilateral investment treaty with the United States and the EU respectively. China is also involved in free-trade agreement talks with many countries.

Li pointed out, “There will be more fields open to foreign investment in a more convenient way. China’s capacity to attract foreign investment has also been improved. In the first half of 2015, China’s FDI has increased by 7.7 percent, while the FDI in the world was not good.”

After Q and A with Premier Li, Arif Naqvi, founder and CEO of the Abraaj Group from United Arab Emirates told People’s Daily, "Premier Li spent one hour giving us a comprehensive account of the current situation of China's economy. Now, I feel completely relieved that China welcomes foreign investment. What I want to say most at this moment is that I will invest in China."