(Yicai) March 5 -- At the first press conference of China’s national legislature this year, spokesperson Lou Qinjian fielded questions on topics ranging from the economy and artificial intelligence to the country’s first law aimed at supporting the private economy.

Speaking yesterday on the eve of the annual National People’s Congress, Lou expressed confidence in China’s economic prospects. Despite a challenging external environment and economic headwinds, he pointed out that the economic fundamentals remain stable and strong, with significant resilience and potential.

The fundamental conditions and basic trend of long-term positive economic development remain unchanged, he told reporters in Beijing.

The third session of the 14th NPC opened today and is scheduled to conclude on March 11. The NPC and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, known collectively as the Two Sessions, meet each March to consider proposals and set the country's political and economic agenda for the year ahead.

Moving forward, the NPC Standing Committee will strengthen oversight of government debt management in accordance with the relevant laws and regulations, Lou said. A key focus will be closely monitoring the increase in local debt quotas to replace hidden liabilities while actively working to prevent and mitigate local government debt risks, he said.

On the topic of AI, Lou noted that DeepSeek’s achievements reflect the rise of a group of Chinese companies in the AI domain, with young and middle-aged professionals driving progress in the country’s science and technology. The government is commitment to AI development, while ensuring risk prevention, Lou said.

Hangzhou-based DeepSeek released its large language model DeepSeek-R1 in January, an event that was described by Silicon Valley venture capitalist Marc Andreessen as an “AI Sputnik moment.” Delivering performance on par with leading LLMs but at much lower cost, businesses and local governments across China have swiftly moved to integrate it into their operations and services.

Lou also said that China legally protects data privacy and security, while opposing the overgeneralization of the concept of "national security" and the politicization of economic, trade, and technological issues.

China aims to bridge the tech divide and prevent technological innovation from becoming the exclusive preserve of "rich countries and wealthy individuals,” Lou said. China is willing to work with other countries to go on promoting the responsible development of AI, drive economic growth, and improve global well-being, he noted.

Regarding the private economy, Lou said the government is working to finalize the Private Economy Promotion Law as soon as possible. The State Council, or cabinet, submitted the draft to the NPC Standing Committee for an initial review in December and re-examined it last month. The next step will be to carefully revise and refine the draft, he added.

Editor: Emmi Laine