NEW YORK - Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Tuesday evening attended a welcoming dinner party organized by American economic and business groups.

In his speech, Li reviewed how China-U.S. relations and practical cooperation has grown from scratch to its present stage, saying that China, the world's largest developing country, still has a long way to go before it achieves modernization.

The steady growth of the Chinese economy not only generates more jobs for China, but also offers a boost to the U.S. economy, he said.

"The two economies are highly interdependent." The welcoming party was organized by the Economic Club of New York, the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, and the U.S.-China Business Council.

Li said that China will stay committed to reform and opening up and continue to follow a path of peaceful development. China stands ready to work with the United States in a spirit of mutual respect and win-win cooperation to expand their common interests, jointly uphold the international order established since the end of the Second World War, and promote strong, sustainable and inclusive global economic growth, the premier said.

Below is a transcript from the question and answer period following the premier's speech.

William Berkley, founder of W.R. Berkley Corporation and Board of Trustees Chair at New York University:

Premier, as Chinese companies seek to do business and make investment around the world, it's important that its market becomes open to investors around the world. How do you see that evolving, and how do you see the market of China becoming more open?

Premier Li: In the early days of China's opening-up, we put most of the emphasis on "bringing in" foreign investment. But today, in this age of globalization, China needs to work with multinationals, and Chinese companies are making investment overseas. So now, we are paying equal attention to "bringing in" and "going global."