China's premier says 2017 GDP growth expected around 6.9 percent

• China's Premier Li Keqiang said the 2017 GDP is expected to have grown around 6.9 percent
• Foreign exchange reserves continued rising last year while corporate leverage ratio declined steadily, Li said

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang speaks at the Great Hall of the People on January 9, 2018.

Mark Schiefelbein | Pool | Getty Images

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said the economy is expected to have grown around 6.9 percent last year, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

China's foreign exchange reserves continued to rise last year, while the country's corporate leverage ratio declined at a steady pace, Li said at the Mekong-Lancang Cooperation Forum in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh on Wednesday, according to Xinhua.