Premier highlights innovation, entrepreneurship for China's future

Premier Li Keqiang highlighted innovation and entrepreneurship as a key growth driver for China in a speech at the Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2015, also known as the Summer Davos forum, on Thursday.

"Millions of small and micro enterprises are the hope and future of China," the premier said.

Li opened his speech by sharing a visit he made to a small "maker enterprise" in Dalian on Wednesday.

The micro-controller company, he said, only has 10 employees but managed to attract 280,000 registered engineers within two years and developed more than 100 products.

He said the company aims to upgrade 30,000 outdated machines in the former heavy industry base of northeast China, so as to exploit the values of these old machines.

There are tens of thousands of similar companies in China that can achieve their dreams by pooling their wisdom and resources, Li said. "They deserve the title of 'new champions'".