Domestic demand, especially consumption, has played an increasingly strong role in driving China's economic growth in the past two years, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said?on Monday.

Wen made the remarks in a speech delivered at the opening ceremony of the fourth Summer Davos held in north China's port city Tianjin.

Total retail sales rose by 16.9 percent in real terms last year, the fastest since 1986, and such good momentum has continued in the first half of this year, Wen said.

The upgrading of the industrial structure has also been accelerated, with the value added of high-tech industries increased by 17.7 percent year on year in the first seven months of 2010, 0.7 percentage point higher than that of the industries above a designated level, he added.

What is more important is that China has made all-round arrangements for accelerating the transformation of economic development pattern and economic restructuring from a macro and strategic perspective, which will give a strong boost to its economic development in the long run, he said.

The three-day meeting, also known as the Annual Meeting of New Champions 2010, under the World Economic Forum, attracted some 1,500 high-profile officials, scholars and business leaders from nearly 90 countries and regions.