Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Wednesday that China’s competitiveness is not a result from state subsidies, but from hard work across its industries, as well as a massive domestic market that provides a broad spectrum of applications for its products.

“The Chinese government is not that wealthy yet, and we cannot afford such subsidies either,” Li said at the opening plenary of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting, known as Summer Davos, held in Dalian.

Li added that China has served as an important “safe haven” for the world economy amid rising global turbulence.

“Under the multiple shocks of international energy shortages and severe disruptions to global supply chain, our economy’s ability to maintain steady growth has injected valuable certainty into a world of increasing uncertainty,” Li said.

Li made the comments as the Iran war has weighed on the global economy, inflating global commodity prices and disrupting the flow of goods.

Despite being relatively insulated from the war, the momentum of China’s economic growth has slowed in the past two months, following a 5 per cent expansion in the first quarter. Beijing has set a GDP growth target for the year of 2026 at 4.5 to 5 per cent.