Chinese Premier Li Keqiang holds a dialogue with representatives from fields of business, finance, media and think tanks attending the 2019 Boao Forum for Asia annual conference in Boao, south China's Hainan Province, March 28, 2019. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

BOAO, Hainan, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Premier Li Keqiang on Thursday held a dialogue with representatives from fields of business, finance, media and think tanks attending the 2019 Boao Forum for Asia annual conference.

"Adhering to reform and opening up is the independent choice of the Chinese people," Li said at the meeting attended by more than 200 guests from all around the world.

Over the past 40 years of reform and opening up, Chinese people have enjoyed tangible benefits, and China will only open its door wider and wider, Li said.

"The Chinese government treats all domestic and foreign enterprises equally and protects intellectual property rights in accordance with the law," he said.

The premier said China will take measures to drastically reduce the time for medicines to be approved and put on the market to benefit patients as soon as possible.

On China-U.S. relations, he said the historic development of the bilateral relations over the past 40 years has brought tremendous benefits to the peoples of the two countries and made an important contribution to world peace, stability and development.

"Although there are some differences between the two sides, dialogue and cooperation have always been the mainstream," Li said.

In accordance with the consensus reached by the two heads of state, economic and trade teams of the two sides are making positive progress through multiple rounds of consultations, Li said.

"As long as the two sides adhere to the principles of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, positive results will be achieved. This is not only in line with the interests of the people of the two countries but also the common expectation of all countries in the world," Li added.

China is actively implementing the innovation-driven development strategy, promoting mass entrepreneurship and innovation and stepping up the development of emerging industries such as artificial intelligence, automatic driving and hydrogen energy, Li added.

This provides an important opportunity for enterprises of all countries, and all companies are welcome to come to China for common development, Li said.

Since the beginning of this year, China's economy has seen a steady performance, and market expectations have improved recently. However, in the face of a complex environment, difficulties and challenges should not be underestimated, Li said.

With a population of nearly 1.4 billion and more than 100 million market entities, China will be able to maintain long-term sound development as long as it stimulates market and corporate vitality, the premier added.

The country must let enterprises enjoy tangible benefit from tax cuts, as the government has decided to cut corporate burden by nearly 2 trillion yuan (about 297 billion U.S. dollars) this year, Li said.