The China Development Forum is being held amidst a U.S.-China trade confrontation. Gathered at the Beijing event are business and economics experts from across the globe. Yi Gang is the new Governor of the Central Bank. He said China’s financial system is prepared for any challenges from overseas.

While the Vice Premier, Han Zheng, said China will continue to pursue market reforms.

CGTN’s Yang Zhao reports.

Some of the world’s top economists and business leaders are in Beijing this weekend for the annual China Development Forum. China’s Vice Premier has sent out a clear message to the gathering. “We will deepen reform across the board and further unleash creativity,” said Chinese Vice Premier Hang Zheng.

China has become the second largest economy with a 9.5 percent annual growth rate for 40 years. Now, one percent growth is equivalent to $800 billion.

Han said China has set a lower growth rate target and is seeking a healthier economic structure, which includes more sustainable development and high-value added manufacturing.

In the past five years, China has streamlined its government procedures, removed excess capacity, invested massively in innovation and entrepreneurship.

The looming threat of a trade war between the US and China overshadowed the forum. On Friday, China announced it may target 128 US products with an import value of $3 billion as retaliation for President Donald Trump’s executive order to impose broad duties on foreign steel and aluminum products. He also announced tariff plans for up to 60 billion dollars in Chinese imports.

Many guests at the forum, including Nobel Prize laureates Robert Shiller and Joseph Stiglitz, expressed their concerns if Beijing and Washington ramp up trade penalties.

In his speech, Han attributed China’s economic miracle over the past 40 years to its opening up, warning any forms of protectionism will destroy the development.

Lu Xiankun on the China Development Forum and Beijing trade tensions with the US

For more on the China Development Forum and China’s stance on its trade confrontation with the U.S., CGTN’s Wang Guan talked with Lu Xiankun. He’s a former senior trade diplomat of China and now a Managing Director of LEDECO Geneva.

Wang Huiyao discusses US-China trade tensions

The China Development Forum is being held amidst a U.S.-China trade confrontation. Gathered at the Beijing event are business and economics experts from across the globe. Wang Huiyao, president of Center for China Globalization, discusses with CGTN’s Wang Guan.