Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivers a keynote speech at the opening plenary of the Boao Forum for Asia annual conference in Boao, south China's Hainan Province, March 28, 2019. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

BOAO, Hainan, March 28 (Xinhua) -- At a time when trade protectionism rises and pressure on the global economy mounts, the world is in dire need to find a way to achieve sustainable development.

At the ongoing Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) annual conference, China has voiced its answer loud and clear.

"The world should work together to seize opportunities, embrace challenges, seek win-win results in cooperation and inject confidence to the world economy with an open mind, inclusiveness and coordinated action," Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said Thursday at the opening plenary of the BFA in China's southern island province of Hainan.

By further opening its economy, promoting multilateral initiatives and advancing structural reforms, China is offering its solution to increase certainties for the world.

UNWAVERING OPENING-UP

Attendees of the BFA know one thing for sure: China will open its economy wider to the world.

On Thursday, Li announced a new set of measures to further open up the economy, offering reassurance to global investors trying to tap into the country's gigantic market.

China will further relax controls on market access and shorten the negative list for foreign investment this year, he said.

The country has also started to formulate matching regulations and rules to support the implementation of the newly-adopted foreign investment law, Li said.

"It is a very encouraging sign for investors in general. For us, it's an additional confirmation that we can continue with our plans," said Robert Aspell, president of Asia Pacific for Cargill, a U.S.-based agriculture and food company.

Following the company's additional investments last year in northeast China's Jilin Province, the company is looking at more investment opportunities in the value-added oil field, as more Chinese are living healthier lifestyles and crave different kinds of oil, Aspell told Xinhua on the sidelines of the BFA.

"We are in China for the long term," he said.

Economists and entrepreneurs at the BFA agreed that openness and cooperation are the keys to address the so-called "black swan" events, or incidents that are rare but could cause catastrophic ramifications.

"There's an old Chinese saying that we should cope with shifting events by sticking to a fundamental principle," said Zhang Yuyan, an economist with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

"The fundamental principle here is that the world should always work together to counter the uncertainties," Zhang said.