HONG KONG (AP) 鈥� 颁丑颈苍补鈥檚 Premier Li Qiang on Wednesday defended the country鈥檚 technological advancements as an opportunity for the world rather than a threat.
Li also said the country鈥檚 heavy state subsidies were not the main reason for the rapid rise of its high-tech industries, at a time when Western officials have complained that state support for industries from artificial intelligence to electric vehicles has provided an unfair competitive edge.
颁丑颈苍补鈥檚 No. 2 leader made the remarks in his speech at the opening plenary of the World Economic Forum鈥檚 Annual Meeting of the New Champions, known as the held this week in the northeastern Chinese coastal city of Dalian.
He acknowledged there have been growing global concerns about 颁丑颈苍补鈥檚 technological innovations, with some pointing to the term as they see the nation’s high-tech boom as a threat to many advanced economies.
Instead, that should be seen as 鈥淐hina Opportunity 2.0,鈥� he said.
鈥淔rom the global development perspective, 鈥楥hina Opportunity 2.0鈥� means there鈥檒l be broader access to advanced technologies and more widely shared benefits,鈥� Li said.
鈥湴涑缶辈圆光�檚 emerging technologies and products are bringing to the world not shocks, but opportunities,鈥� he added. 鈥淣ot threats, but empowerment.鈥�
颁丑颈苍补鈥檚 tech advancements and growing exports of , solar panels, chips, batteries, AI and robotics have offered affordable options to global markets, but have also raised criticisms among governments concerned about issues such as oversupply. Some are .
Li also dismissed claims that the rise of 颁丑颈苍补鈥檚 high-tech sectors was because of massive government subsidies.
U.S. and European policymakers have raised concerns over Chinese state subsidies creating unfairness to their industries, while a June report by the 38-country Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD, said huge state subsidies, including those in China, can distort global markets and create unfair competitive advantages.
鈥淭here are some people who say that Chinese products are competitive mainly because the Chinese government’s subsidies,鈥� Li said in his speech. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not true. The Chinese government is not that wealthy.鈥�
颁丑颈苍补鈥檚 large domestic market, which allows the mass and fast deployment of new technologies among its population of 1.4 billion, and huge corporate investments are among the key factors in its robust tech advancements, he said.
Li also name-checked Chinese tech giant , which has faced Western restrictions, and robotics company Unitree, both of which have risen quickly in size and market share, as examples of 颁丑颈苍补鈥檚 innovation success.
Beijing to an expansion this month of the Pentagon’s list of Chinese to Unitree and other tech firms, preventing them from landing U.S. defense contracts. The list also includes Huawei.
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Associated Press video producer Wayne Zhang in Beijing contributed to this report.
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