On September 10, 2009, the Third WEF Annual Meeting of the New Champions (the Annual Meeting of the Summer Davos 2009) opened in the World Expo Square in Dalian. Wen Jiabao, Premier of the State Council, attended and addressed the opening ceremony. He stressed that China will continue to pursue the proactive fiscal policy and moderately easy monetary policy, and fully implement and continuously enrich the stimulus package, so as to achieve steady and relatively fast economic growth and promote social stability and harmony.

The Meeting attracted over 1,400 representatives of the governments, business communities, academia, and media from 86 countries and regions including Klaus Schwab, Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, Valdis Zatlers, President of Latvia, Nikola Gruevski, Prime Minister of Macedonia, and Goh Chok Tong, Senior Minister of Singapore.

Premier Wen first extended warm congratulations on the opening of the Meeting on behalf of the Chinese government. He said that over the past year, the world economy has experienced the most severe challenge since the Great Depression. However thanks to the concerted efforts, increased cooperation, and active measures of the entire international community, some positive changes have taken place. The world economy is beginning to recover, although the process is slow and tortuous. People have seen the light of dawn on the horizon.

Premier Wen further noted that the unprecedented global financial crisis had taken a heavy toll on the Chinese economy. "Yet, we have risen up to challenges and dealt with the difficulties with full confidence. We have achieved initial results in our endeavor. China has curbed the downturn in economic growth. In the first half of this year, China's GDP grew by 7.1%, investment expanded at a faster pace, and consumption maintained fast and steady growth. Domestic demand played a stronger role in driving the economy forward. From January to July, 6.66 million new urban jobs were created, income of urban and rural residents increased, and overall social stability was maintained. China kept budget deficit and government debt at around 3% and 20% of the GDP respectively. At the end of June, the NPL ratio of commercial banks was 1.8%, down by 0.64 percentage point from the beginning of the year, and capital adequacy ratio stood at 11.1%."

Premier Wen stressed that with the world economy still mired in recession, it is by no means easy for China to have made such achievements. They are the results of the proactive fiscal policy and moderately easy monetary policy and the stimulus package that the Chinese government and people have pursued in line with the national conditions. China's stimulus package is not simply the four trillion RMB yuan investment. It is a package that focuses on expanding domestic demand and is aimed at driving economic growth through both consumption and investment. It is a package that aims to address both immediate problems and long-term needs, and achieve economic growth in the course of restructuring. It is a package that seeks to coordinate the role of the government and the market and enable development and reform to advance in a mutually reinforcing way. It is a package that is designed to both sustain economic growth and improve people's livelihood.

Premier Wen pointed out that generally speaking, China's macro-economic policy and the stimulus package are in line with the country's reality and have proven to be timely, forceful and effective. However, the stabilization and recovery of the Chinese economy is not yet steady, solid and balanced. "Given such a state of affairs, we cannot and will not change our policy direction in the absence of proper conditions. China will continue to take maintaining steady and relatively fast economic growth as its primary task. China will unswervingly pursue the proactive fiscal policy and moderately easy monetary policy, and fully implement and continuously enrich and improve the stimulus package. China will promptly identify and address new developments and new problems in the economy, make its policies more targeted, effective and sustainable, and guard against and fend off various potential risks, including inflation, so that the Chinese economy will achieve steady and relatively fast growth and the country will enjoy social stability and harmony."

Premier Wen further stressed that the international financial crisis has inflicted far-reaching impact on the world economy. To counter the global financial crisis is a long-term and arduous task. "Our policies should not only focus on overcoming the short-term difficulties, but also, and more importantly, ensure long-term development. We should focus on restructuring the economy, and make greater effort to enhance the role of domestic demand, especially final consumption in spurring growth. We should deepen reform and opening-up, the fundamental force in driving development, and make greater effort to build vibrant institutions and mechanisms. We should see scientific and technological innovation as an important pillar and make greater effort to develop new industries of strategic importance. We should take it as a strategic priority to pursue balanced development between urban and rural areas and among various regions and promote urbanization, and make greater effort to expand new areas of growth. We should make better livelihood for the people the supreme goal of our work and make greater efforts to improve the social safety net and develop social welfares."

Premier Wen finally called on the countries to work together to tackle climate change, oppose trade and investment protectionism, promote sustainable recovery of the world economy and protect intellectual property rights (IPR).

Before the opening ceremony, Premier Wen talked with the business leaders attending the Meeting.

The three-day meeting focuses on the theme of "Relaunching Growth" and more than 70 seminars are arranged. The participants are expected to discuss 5 topics: new business models in a deleveraging world, opportunities in a green economy, rethinking Asia's development model, driving economic growth through science and technology, and addressing societal needs through innovation.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) is a Geneva-based forum founded by Klaus M. Schwab. It is best known for its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. The annual meeting of the Summer Davos Forum is the international meeting held by WEF outside Davos. The First Annual Meeting of the Summer Davos Forum was held in 2007 in Dalian and the Second was held in 2008 in Tianjin. This year's meeting is held by WEF in partnership with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in Dalian.