Premier Li highlights China's strong development momentum at forum

Chinese Premier Li Qiang stressed China's strong driving force for development in a keynote speech at the China Development Forum 2025 in Beijing on Sunday.

Noting that China has huge potential for domestic economic circulation, innovation and creativity and economic transformation, Li also reiterated China's commitment to openness and global collaboration.

Delivering the opening address at the China Development Forum 2025 (CDF), Li pledged to roll out more measures to help foreign-funded enterprises integrate into the Chinese market.

Speaking at the forum, attended by more than 80 top executives from leading foreign multinationals, Li expressed China's warm welcome for investments from businesses of all countries, saying foreign-funded enterprises are indispensable participants and contributors to China's development.

The Chinese premier called on global executives to seize opportunities in China's supersized consumption market, renewed momentum in innovation, and booming green economy.

Li urged international businesses to resist protectionism, voicing the hope that entrepreneurs will play a unique role and take more active action in maintaining economic globalization.

China announced its economic growth rate target of around five percent for 2025 during the "two sessions", the annual meetings of China's National People's Congress (NPC), and the top political advisory body, the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

Li said the target was set based on China's economic fundamentals and Beijing's firm confidence in its capabilities and potential for future development.

The China Development Forum 2025 is being held on March 23 and 24 under the theme "Unleashing Development Momentum for Stable Growth of Global Economy."

This year's CDF features 12 symposiums and several closed-door sessions, covering topics such as healthcare, consumption, AI and sustainable supply chains.

Premier Li highlights China's strong development momentum at forum

Premier Li highlights China's strong development momentum at forum

Premier Li highlights China's strong development momentum at forum

Premier Li highlights China's strong development momentum at forum

Premier Li highlights China's strong development momentum at forum

Seiya Matsuno, a Japanese scholar, on Tuesday donated a trove of wartime Japanese documents to the Guangdong Provincial Archives in China, marking the first appearance of original Japanese evidence detailing Imperial Japan's systematic forgery of Chinese currency in Hong Kong during its invasion of China.

The donated archives, authenticated by WWII historians at South China Normal University, include correspondence between Japan's War Ministry and the General Staff of its Expeditionary Forces in China.

They conclusively prove that Japanese troops looted the Kuomintang government's banknote printing machines in Hong Kong and mass-produced counterfeit currency as part of a calculated economic warfare strategy. The records specify the counterfeit bills' quantities, production sites, distribution channels and usage protocols.

Matsuno, a researcher at the International Peace Research Institute of Meiji Gakuin University in Japan and a distinguished professor at Heilongjiang International University, said that the fact that the Japanese army manufactured counterfeit banknotes for economic purposes can be verified for the first time with historical data.

"The fact that the Japanese army manufactured counterfeit banknotes for economic purposes has been revealed through the testimony of relevant personnel of the Japanese Army. Through the information disclosed this time, such fact can be verified for the first time with historical documentation, which is very important," Matsuno said.

"This was written by the aggressors themselves, which is tantamount to a confession of the Japanese invasion. So I think it has very important historical value for further in-depth disclosure of Japan's war crimes against China," said Xiao Zili, a history professor at South China Normal University.

Also on Tuesday, Matsuno, known for previously donating evidence related to Japan's Unit 731 and chemical warfare in China, also contributed a photo album from the Imperial Army's 104th Division, which participated in the invasion of Guangdong.

He shared research on Japan's "gas warfare" and "secret war" in southern China, and stressed the importance of learning from history to cherish peace.

The year of 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.

Scholar unveils document of Japan's counterfeit-note warfare crimes in China