Li's speech at the Boao Forum, a high-profile meeting on China's southern Hainan island, was his first to an international conference since being appointed Beijing's number-two official in early March.
"China's economic growth shows strong momentum," Li told top politicians and business leaders.
"Judging from the situation in March, it is better than in January and February," he said, referring to a period when China saw a surge in Covid-19 infections following the lifting of strict pandemic controls.
China set an economic growth target of "around five percent" this month, one of its lowest in decades as it emerges from strict zero-Covid rules.
One of President Xi Jinping's most trusted allies, Li has warned that the goal will not be "easy" to achieve.
And in his speech Thursday he said Beijing would focus on preventing major financial risks, promising further state support to a private sector still reeling from a regulatory crackdown on the property, technology and private education industries.
"We will launch a series of new measures to expand market access," he said, without offering details.
"We will optimise the business environment... so that state-owned enterprises dare to improve their business, private enterprises dare to venture into it and foreign companies dare to invest."
China will continue to "prevent major risks", he continued, saying Beijing would "firmly hold the bottom line" against "systemic risks" to economic stability.
Li's comments come in the face of international banking sector worries and rising concerns about debt-fuelled development programmes favoured by China's local governments.
The premier also reiterated Beijing's calls to avoid what it calls "a new Cold War" and to resist protectionism.
China has been vocal against western sanctions on traditional allies including Russia, North Korea and Iran.
"We insist on resolving differences and disputes between countries through peaceful means, and jointly safeguard world peace and tranquility," he said.
According to state news agency Xinhua, Li on Wednesday met International Monetary Fund head Kristalina Georgieva during the forum, which has pitched itself as Asia's answer to the World Economic Forum's annual gathering of global leaders in Davos.
Also attending are Spanish Prime minister Pedro Sanchez, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Singapore leader Lee Hsien Loong.
China's biggest property developer sees first annual loss since 2007
Beijing (AFP) March 30, 2023 -
Chinese property giant Country Garden reported its first annual loss in fifteen years on Thursday, blaming persistent headwinds in the property market and the Covid-19 pandemic.
China's property sector has been weakened by a slowing economy and a regulatory crackdown in recent years that narrowed developers' access to credit.
Country Garden -- the nation's biggest developer in terms of sales -- recorded a loss of 6.1 billion yuan ($887 million) for 2022, according to a stock exchange filing on Thursday.
It is the company's first full-year loss since its 2007 listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange, and a sharp drop from the 26.7 billion yuan profit it recorded for 2021.
China's property sector experienced a "harsh winter" in 2022, the group said in its filing, pointing to the "continued impact of Covid-19".
China's housing market, which along with construction accounts for more than a quarter of GDP, remains in a slump, having been dealt a hefty blow by Beijing's crackdown on excessive borrowing and rampant speculation starting in 2020.
Real estate sales have since fallen in multiple cities and several developers are struggling to survive, with homebuyers last year refusing to pay mortgages on incomplete properties.
Strict restrictions and sudden lockdowns imposed as part of China's zero-Covid policy disrupted construction and further dampened consumer confidence.
But authorities have signalled a relaxation of the property crackdown in recent months, with the government in January announcing it would ease financial conditions for a list of developers deemed to be healthy.
Country Garden, which was part of that list, said on Thursday it believed the property market had "bottomed out and can look forward to a recovery".
China manufacturing slows in March, services growth hits 12-yr high
Beijing (AFP) March 31, 2023 -
China's manufacturing activity slowed in March, official figures showed Friday, while growth in the services and construction sectors surged to a 12-year high.
The world's second-largest economy is slowly rebounding after posting some of its weakest growth in decades in 2022.
The official manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) -- a key gauge of Chinese factory output -- beat expectations but fell to 51.9 in March, from 52.6 in February, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed.
Analysts polled by Bloomberg News had expected March factory activity to come at 51.6 percent, after February recorded the highest reading in more than a decade as factories returned to normal following a surge in Covid cases.
The official non-manufacturing PMI, which measures growth in the services and construction sectors, rose to 58.2 in March -- the highest since May 2011 -- and up from 56.3 in February.
"The PMI indicates China's economic recovery is on track," said Zhang Zhiwei, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management.
"The expansion of service sector activities is particularly strong... The strong momentum will likely continue in the coming months."
The country has seen a surge in demand for travel, entertainment and other leisure services that were curbed for nearly three years during the pandemic.
China's new premier Li Qiang said Thursday the economy was showing "strong momentum" despite a challenging global environment, pledging increased support for business.
Beijing has set an economic growth target of around five percent for this year, one of its lowest in decades -- a goal Li has warned will not be "easy".
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