Meeting the Challenges: A Historical Record of China’s Development—Speeches by Wen Jiabao at the World Economic Forum Events

2. Premier Wen Answers Questions at the Opening Ceremony and at a Meeting with Entrepreneurs

117 PREMIER WEN ANSWERS QUESTIONS AT THE OPENING CEREMONY AND AT A MEETING WITH ENTREPRENEURS (10 September 2009, Dalian) On the afternoon of 10 September 2009, Premier Wen Jiabao attended the opening ceremony of the third Summer Davos Forum and met with entrepreneurs. He answered questions from Klaus Schwab, Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum and from business representatives. Q: In 2008, China had set specific targets to tackle climate change in the Eleventh Five-year Plan and in the National Program on Tackling Climate Change that was formulated and released by the Chinese government . Progress is being made to meet these targets. What tasks and goals will the Chinese government set for addressing climate change in its Twelfth Five-year Plan, and what constraining factors will China face in achieving these targets? Wen Jiabao: In the Eleventh Five-year Plan, we set the target of reducing energy intensity by 20 percent and, MeetingTheChallengesEN_FA02_17Dec2013.indd 117 MeetingTheChallengesEN_FA02_17Dec2013.indd 117 19/12/13 11:26 AM 19/12/13 11:26 AM MEETING THE CHALLENGES 118 based on the progress made so far, we may achieve this target in 2010 as scheduled. We have intensified our efforts to reduce energy intensity, which includes shutting down small coal-fired power plants with total capacity of over 50 million kilowatts. Energy conservation and emission reductions will continue to be our long-term goal in the pursuit of sustainable economic growth during the Twelfth Five-year Plan period and beyond. And there will be a major drop in China’s energy intensity by 2020. China and the Western developed countries are at different stages of development. The Western countries have undergone 250 years of industrialization since the industrial revolution. Large scale industrialization in China began only several decades ago. We need to advance development and at the same time keep up our efforts to conserve energy and reduce emissions. We need to strike a balance between the two, with the ultimate goal of achieving sustainable development. Without development , we will not have the capacity to save energy or reduce emissions. Let me give you an example. China’s per capita power consumption is 2,605 kilowatt-hours. This figure is only one-fifth that of the United States and one-third that of Japan. But China has a population of 1.3 billion and the country’s industrialization and urbanization are picking up speed. It will be more challenging and more difficult for China to develop a green economy, save energy, and reduce emissions. Tackling climate change is the responsibility of the entire world. Both the developed and the developing countries should pursue the path of green development, green investment, green consumption, and green growth. Yet it will be a process, and during this process the developing countries, including China, and the developed countries should enhance cooperation and jointly respond to climate change. The principles and provisions of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol should be upheld. The principle MeetingTheChallengesEN_FA02_17Dec2013.indd 118 MeetingTheChallengesEN_FA02_17Dec2013.indd 118 19/12/13 11:26 AM 19/12/13 11:26 AM 2009 SUMMER DAVOS FORUM 119 of common but differentiated responsibilities should be adhered to. First, the developed countries should redouble their efforts to conserve energy, reduce emissions, and meet the emissions cuts standards set by the Kyoto Protocol according to schedule. Second, the developed countries should extend technical, financial, and capacity-building support to the developing countries. Third, the developing countries, for their part, should take energy conservation and emission reduction measures, pursue green growth, and extensively apply new technologies to reduce CO2 emissions in light of their realities. China will play a positive and constructive role at the Copenhagen Conference and we hope the conference will achieve substantial results.1 Q: At the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos this January, you outlined China’s 4 trillion yuan stimulus package. You mentioned that the package included a substantial increase in government investments and stressed that the market should also play a role in encouraging the participation of private and foreign capital in implementing of the stimulus package. Will the Chinese government consider inviting international investors to invest in China’s private equity funds? Wen Jiabao: First of all, I want to provide an explanation about the four trillion yuan investment program. The central government plans to invest 1.18 trillion yuan within two years to...