New Chinese Premier Li Qiang has stressed that China will promote the further opening of its markets to foreign businesses in a keynote speech at an economic forum on the southern Chinese island of Hainan.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2023 on Thursday, Li said China will introduce "a series of new measures to expand market access, optimize business environment and facilitate project implementation."

His speech appears to reflect China's desire to rebuild its stalled economy after three years of the zero-COVID policy by encouraging more foreign investment.

However, Japanese companies are becoming increasingly wary about doing business in China after a Japanese businessman was recently detained by Chinese authorities on suspicion of espionage in Beijing.

The employee of Japanese pharmaceutical company Astellas Pharma, who is in his 50s, has about 20 years of experience working in China. He was due to return to Japan this month as he had been reassigned to another post.