On September 9, 2015, when having a discussion with Chinese and foreign entrepreneur representatives attending the Summer Davos Forum in Dalian, Premier Li Keqiang expressed that China has declared the independent emission reduction target. To achieve this target China will face huge pressure and needs to make arduous efforts. But since we have promised, we will “honor promise with resolute actions”.

When answering a question of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Royal DSM Feike Sijbesma of the Netherlands, Li Keqiang said that China is a developing country but yet has to transform the development mode, shoulder due international responsibility and cope with climate change. There are indeed contradiction between these two, so we need to strike a balance.

He said that China is continuously strengthening ecological protection, especially enhancing the governance of pollution emission. Compared with the past few years, last year saw the strongest energy conservation and emission reduction. In the first half of this year, the energy consumption per unit of GDP dropped 5.9%. We will continue promoting the transitional development and green development in this direction.

Li Keqiang expressed his hope that while China’s strengthened environmental protection may slow down the economic growth to a certain extent, it won’t arouse another voice that “is the economy weakening” or “the entity economy is encumbered”. We are now taking measures, endeavoring to cultivate an impetus which is green, energy-saving and supportive for economic growth, such as electronic commerce and other service industries. This, of course, is a process that takes time.