Business

Premier Li says a lot of room left for China consumption to increase

Premier Li says ‘a lot of room’ left for China consumption to increase

By REUTERS

Seoul, November 1 China is firmly committed to restructuring and reforms and consumption has ‘a lot of room’ to grow, Premier Li Keqiang said today, dismissing concerns economy may be at risk of a hard landing. The world’s second-largest economy continues to grow at nearly seven per cent, Li told a gathering of business leaders in South Korea, which counts China as its largest export market. “The Chinese economy will maintain a mid- to high-level of growth for quite some time in the future,” Li said, according to comments released by the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry, one of the groups that hosted the premier. “We will firmly pursue restructuring and reform. There may be fluctuations in economic indicators but there will not be major ones.” Li is on an official visit to South Korea and attended the first summit of the leaders of South Korea, Japan and China in more than three years today. “China possesses a large market, and it has potential, in particular, the consumption potential has not been fully realised,” he said. “We believe Chinese consumption is at half (its capacity). There is still a lot of room.”