Despite headwinds, China is geared to grow more than most major economies this year, and the Red Dragon will continue to power the global economy for years to come. The 6th China International Import Expo (CIIE) was held in Shanghai from 5 to 10 November 2023. Image supplied.
Chen Xiaodong
Recently, the National Bureau of Statistics of China released economic data for the first three quarters, showing that China’s gross domestic product (gdp)grew 5.2% year-on-year, making it a leader among the world’s major economies.
Several foreign financial institutions, including Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan Chase, have raised their expectations for China’s economic growth for the year, projecting it will exceed 5%. The International Finance Forum released a report that predicts China will contribute as much as 32% to global economic growth this year.
Despite the sluggish world economic recovery and high global inflation, China’s economy has demonstrated strong resilience, great potential and enormous vitality, and remains a leader and main engine of global economic growth.
Our macroeconomic policies are prudent and efficient. From the start of the year, the Chinese government has introduced powerful and effective macroeconomic policies to stabilise growth and grow the economy. We have developed a plan to stabilise growth in 10 key industries, accelerated efforts to implement 31 policies and 28 measures to grow the private economy (which has contributed more than 80% to employment in China’s urban areas), and renewed, optimised and improved several policies on tax and fee reduction.
The many tools in our policy “toolbox” have propelled the Chinese economy forward, through ups and downs. The economy also enjoys a stronger trend of upgraded consumption, greater momentum of regional co-ordination, and enhanced vitality of innovation.
Our mega market unleashes great potential. China has a population of more than 1.4 billion, a per capita GDP of more than $12 000 (R225 000), and a middle-income group of more than 400 million people that will exceed 800 million in the next 15 years.
China is the world’s largest country in trade in goods, the second-largest consumer market and largest online retail market. It has been the world’s second-largest import market for 14-consecutive years.
As the major trading partner to more than 140 countries and regions, China is a world leader in terms of attracted foreign capital and outward investment. Since the beginning of this year, our domestic demand has continued to expand, with consumption contributing 83.2 percent to economic growth.
Our mega market has grown continuously, providing more opportunities for the rest of the world.
In the first three quarters, China’s foreign trade expanded steadily, with total imports and exports exceeding 30 trillion yuan. In the next five years, the imports and exports of China’s trade in goods and services are expected to exceed $32 trillion and $5 trillion respectively.
China is ready to open its huge market of 1.4 billion people to South Africa, and work to see that more minerals, agricultural and other high-quality products from South Africa make their way into the Chinese market.
Our industrial system is reasonable and complete. China’s manufacturing industry has ranked first in the world in terms of scale for 13-consecutive years. In August, China became the world’s largest exporter of vehicles.
Chinese-brand cars made in South Africa have made their way into thousands of households. As the only country in the world that owns all the categories in the UN industrial classification system, China has strong industrial organisation capacity and supply-chain resilience.
China plays an important role in the global industrial division of labour and supply chain system. In the first three quarters, our investment in the manufacturing industry grew by 6.2%, and investment in the hi-tech manufacturing industry and hi-tech service industry grew by 11.3% and 11.8% respectively.
A total of 172 million kilowatts of renewable energy were newly installed, an increase of 93% year-on-year.
Our talent dividend empowers development. China has the world’s largest and most complete talent resource, with the total number of skilled personnel reaching 220 million, and the total number of research and development personnel ranking first in the world.
Our demographic dividend exists, and our talent dividend is showing new advantages.
China trained about 60 million engineers from 2000 to 2020. Many bold and innovative entrepreneurs have been cultivated in China, forming a team of Chinese entrepreneurs who keep up with the times, showcase national characteristics and meet world standards. They have become a dynamic force in building a modernised economic system and driving high-quality development.
The universal truth is that economies fluctuate. When observing the Chinese economy, we should focus on not only its short-term fluctuations but also its long-term development.
Some of our economic indicators have shown short-term fluctuations this year, but our macro-policies are forward-looking and create synergy.
Our economic operation continues to improve, and our long-term sound economy has maintained its trend.
China has the confidence, ability and strength to cope with all kinds of risks and challenges. The giant ship of the Chinese economy will ride out the winds and waves towards a brighter future, and make even greater contributions to the world economy.
Chen is the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to South Africa