China's role in global economic growth, green transition hailed during 2025 CDF

Roland Busch, president and chief executive officer of Siemens AG, on Sunday hailed China's contribution to the growth of the global economy and green transition during an opening address at the China Development Forum 2025 (CDF) in Beijing.

Noting that the world's economy is undergoing a massive transformation driven by many aspects, Busch said China has found the answer to issues surrounding global growth by focusing on high-tech, higher efficiency, and high-quality growth.

"The government of China is taking action. China is even going one step further, changing the operating system of its economy to unleash new quality productive forces," Busch said, adding that the government of China is continuously working on creating a level playing field and a fairer business environment. 

"To master the world's major challenges, to unleash further growth potentials, companies need to create powerful ecosystems, supported by governments," he said. "If we collaborate, we will turn challenges into opportunities. If we collaborate, we will create better lives, common prosperity – sustainably." 

At the opening ceremony, Chinese Premier Li Qiang reaffirmed China's commitment to openness and international cooperation. He said China will further expand market access in various sectors for foreign investors.

In an interview with CGTN, Ola Kallenius, chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, reaffirmed China's significance as a key global market. He expressed confidence in China's future and pledged continued investment to drive mutual growth and shared success.

"China is our biggest and most important market," said Kallenius, adding that as China and the EU will celebrate a significant anniversary this year, Mercedes-Benz will take this opportunity to work closer and stronger with China. 

He said Mercedes-Benz is introducing a complete new vehicle architecture for the vans and the company has an operation for their vans in south China's Fujian Province, suggesting more investment there.

Premier Li also pledged great efforts to enhance consumer spending at the opening ceremony. 

Stephen Orlins, president of the National Committee on U.S.–China Relations praised these efforts. He said these bold moves will boost Chinese spending to shrink trade surpluses, and that could unlock a historic reset – more U.S. exports to China, fewer deficits, and a pragmatic path to stabilize global growth.

Ahead of the 2025 CDF, former Australian State Premier of Victoria Daniel Andrews also shared with CGTN his insights on China's high-quality development and its role in the global green transition.

As a reformer who spearheaded Victoria's shift away from fossil fuels, Andrews said, "formal Australia-China cooperation on decarbonizing heavy industries and advancing wind and solar technologies must be our next priority; this isn't just about our nations' futures, but the health of the planet." 

He praised China's new quality productive forces as a transformative model, stressing that China's progress in renewable energy deserves far greater global recognition. He also noted that while the United States remains obsessed with "erratic and nonsensical tariff games," Australia and China are forging a new path toward global sustainability through pragmatic collaboration.

The theme for this year's forum is "Unleashing Development Momentum for Stable Growth of Global Economy."