Premier predicts improved fundamentals

The Chinese economy is regaining its strength and demonstrating great resilience, potential and flexibility, Premier Li Keqiang said.

The premier made the remarks on Friday at a seminar on the economic situation attended by experts and entrepreneurs, according to a statement released on Monday.

"The fundamentals of the economy are on course to improve," the premier said. "The potential growth rate of the economy can support growth of mid-to-high speed."

Earlier this month, Li said in France that China can achieve its annual growth target of about 7 percent.

On July 6, the National Bureau of Statistics said indicators in recent months suggested the economy has passed the worst point.

Economists who attended the seminar agreed that "in the first half of this year, with national policies taking effect, the Chinese economy has started to pick up steadily and positive factors are increasing", according to the statement.

Lian Ping, chief economist at the Bank of Communications, was among those who attended. "The performance of the Chinese economy in the second half of the year will be even better than in the first half," he said.

Lian said that several rounds of cuts in interest rates and the amount of money banks must keep in reserve are taking effect, and the impact will become more obvious in the second half of the year. "Interest rates might fall in the second half, helping to cut fundraising costs for businesses."

The premier emphasized that the upgrading and development of the Chinese economy will require reform and innovation.

He encouraged enterprises to grasp the opportunities offered by national strategies such as Made in China 2025, Internet Plus, the Belt and Road Initiative and international cooperation over production capacity to build up their core competitiveness.

The government will also ensure that businesses involved in innovation, particularly small and micro enterprises, will receive a wide range of resources, Li added.

Liu Qingfeng, CEO of speech recognition developer iFly Tek, was among the business leaders who attended the seminar. He said the story of his company illustrates the huge potential of the Chinese economy in the coming years.

He began to develop a speech recognition system during his postgraduate studies, and the technology now covers 27 languages and is used 730 million times around the world every day. Nearly 80,000 projects related to iFly's platform are expected to be launched this year.

"The nation's mass innovation and entrepreneurship strategy provides a fair opportunity for every company and every individual," he said.