BEIJING, March 25 -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang met with World Bank President Ajay Banga on Monday in Beijing, calling for a closer partnership.

Li said that China is the largest developing country in the world and it has conducted fruitful cooperation with the World Bank over more than 40 years. The country is willing to build a closer partnership with the World Bank, strengthen cooperation on knowledge, rural revitalization and health care, promote the implementation of the Global Development Initiative, and make positive contributions to addressing climate change and other global challenges.

China supports the World Bank's reform agenda and hopes that the bank will position development at the center of that reform, increase its input in established areas of poverty reduction and development, increase the representation of developing countries, and play a more effective role in global governance, he noted.

He said China will continue to step up its macro-control and introduce more policies that are conducive to maintaining stable expectations and growth, and foster and strengthen new growth drivers to make more contributions to world economic growth.

"The fundamentals sustaining China's long-term sound economic growth remain unchanged," Li said. He noted that China is ready to strengthen cooperation with other countries to foster a market-oriented, law-based and world-class business environment, and deepen reforms in key areas. The country is also prepared to safeguard fair competition in an improved manner, protect the legitimate rights and interests of various enterprises, promote the liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment, and share development opportunities with the world, he said.

Ajay Banga thanked China for its long-term support for the work of the World Bank, and said he appreciates the sound operations of the bank's cooperation projects in China. He said that China is a model of cooperation between the World Bank and other countries, noting that the bank is willing to deepen cooperation with China on health care, green transformation and climate change, and make positive contributions to China's high-quality development.