China champions inclusive growth

Artificial intelligence, intelligent robots, big data, e-commerce: these are some of the technological advancements in the new industrial revolution that are profoundly changing our lives.

As Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang remarked in his opening speech at the 11th annual meeting of the New Champions on Tuesday, farmers in China’s remote mountainous areas can now see their specialty products reach urban consumers in just one or two days, and at prices several times higher than if they were sold locally — all thanks to the booming online trading platforms and the express delivery networks that have emerged in recent years.

Li used this as an example to highlight how technology and innovation can accelerate more inclusive economic growth, featuring meaningful job creation and sustainable development, a main theme of the three-day meeting, known as the Summer Davos, which is being held in the coastal city of Dalian, northeast China’s Liaoning province.

Indeed, China has a lot to share on how jobs can be created by promoting innovation and entrepreneurship. Over the past four to five years, more than 50-million new jobs have been created in the country, a remarkable achievement of the government’s endeavour to promote mass entrepreneurship and innovation. This has led to 14,000 new enterprises registered each day over the past three years.

By helping foster a rapid development of new industries and business models, such as e-commerce, mobile payments and the building of a sharing economy, technology and innovation are playing a key role in China’s bid to upgrade and transition its economy to more sustainable growth.

China can share that experience with the political and business leaders from other countries attending the meeting. Beijing, June 28.