China’s sustained growth gives impetus to global economy

People tour Jiuzhou ancient town in Huangping County, southwest China’s Guizhou Province, Jan. 26, 2023.. PHOTO | XINHUA

What you need to know:

  • In 2023 China will continue to act as a stabilizer for the global economic recovery

At the beginning of the year, when everything is fresh and energetic, all nations and key international organizations take stock of the economic performance of 2022 and look forward to the year 2023. What progress has China, the world’s second-largest economy, achieved in terms of development in the past year? What is this year’s economic trend in China? What impact will the Chinese economy have on global development? These questions have attracted worldwide attention.

2022 is a remarkable year in the history of China’s development. Under challenging conditions involving a world undergoing profound changes and a pandemic both unseen in a century, China has successfully coordinated pandemic prevention and control with economic and social development, responded effectively to internal and external challenges, maintained stable macroeconomic performance, and achieved new results in high-quality development and high-level opening-up. China is viewed favorably by the international community, which anticipates that in 2023 China will continue to act as a “stabilizer” for the global economic recovery and an “engine” for growth, boosting global development by increasing its contributions.

China’s economy has grown, defying the global trend, and its overall national strength has reached a new level. The COVID-19 pandemic persisted in 2022, placing pressure on the global economy. In the meantime, there were concurrent crises with regard to items like food and energy.

Despite this, China’s economy continued to expand in 2022, with both the economic output and the per capita income rising steadily. Its yearly gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 3% over 2021 to RMB 121 trillion yuan (or around 18 trillion US dollars).

China has outperformed other major economies in terms of economic growth. Its GDP per capita surged to 12,741 US dollars, and the disposable income of rural residents rose by 4.2% to a record high of RMB 20,000 per person.

China has kept prices, employment, and food production stable, displaying a strong resilience for development. Employment is crucial for people’s well-being. 12.06 million new urban jobs were created in 2022 as the Chinese government kept stepping up its efforts to ease social burdens and stabilize employment.

China’s total grain output was 686.55 billion kilograms in 2022, which means that for eight years in a row, the country has maintained its annual grain output at more than 650 billion kilograms despite numerous obstacles and challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters. By doing so, it has been possible to ensure domestic food security and establish a strong base for overall price stability. China’s consumer price index (CPI) increased by 2% against the backdrop of high global inflation, notably lower than the around 8% increase in the US and Europe, thus helping the world address inflation in a significant way.

The nation’s international balance of payments also improved. At the end of 2022, China’s balance of foreign exchange reserves ranked the first in the world with US$3,127.7 billion.

With a strong momentum for innovation and development, China’s high-quality development is booming. In China, science and technology are seen as the primary productive force, talents as the most valuable resource, and creativity as the primary diving force. Its innovation capacity to propel development is rising, and it has moved up from 34th to 11th in the Global Innovation Index over the past ten years.

Additionally, the year 2022 witnessed the completion of the construction of China’s space station, the delivery of the country’s first C919 large jetliner, and the launch of its third aircraft carrier, “Fujian.” In 2021, China had 1.7 times as many research and development workers as it did in 2012, placing it first in the world.

And China has the highest number of valid invention patents worldwide, according to the latest World Intellectual Property Indicators report released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

China’s high-level opening-up is advancing steadily and fast, creating opportunities for global development.

China adheres to the right course of economic globalization. It strives to promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, advance bilateral, regional, and multilateral cooperation, and boost international macroeconomic policy coordination. It steadfastly opposes protectionism, the erection of “fences and barriers,” decoupling, disruption of industrial and supply chains, unilateral sanctions, and maximum-pressure campaigns. For the first time in history, China’s foreign trade volume exceeded RMB 40 trillion yuan, and the country has been the world’s largest trader in goods for six consecutive years.

In addition, China’s share of the world export market reached 14.7%, placing it first globally, with an increase of 10.5% in export volume last year.

China has been instrumental in fostering the growth of international trade and ensuring the stability and openness of the global industrial and supply chains. Unprecedented grandeur characterized the 2022 China International Import Expo, while the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS), the China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair), and the China International Consumer Products Expo all had new accomplishments. China is actively promoting the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in collaboration with other nations. It has signed more than 200 cooperation agreements with 151 countries and 32 international organizations to jointly implement the BRI.

The global economic recovery still faces many uncertainties as we look ahead to 2023.

The World Bank lowered its forecast for global economic growth in 2023 to 1.7%. As an important engine of world economic growth, China has a complete industrial system, a sizable domestic market, and a continuously improving infrastructure network.

Its economy is highly resilient, with great growth potential and vitality, and the country’s economic fundamentals that will sustain long-term growth remain unchanged. As COVID-19 prevention and control in China has entered a new stage, the country’s production and social life will return to normal with an accelerated pace, which will further enhance economic vitality.

The projections for China’s economic growth rate have recently been increased by several international organizations. The consensus forecast for 2023 is that China’s economic growth rate will be 5% or even higher.

The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) was successfully held in October 2022. It provided a comprehensive road map for creating a modern socialist country and advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-style modernization. Moreover, it promised a wider, deeper, and more comprehensive opening up of the country. The fact that China’s door is opening wider to the outside world and its economy continues to grow will not only accumulate more positive energy for the world’s economic recovery but also bring more new opportunities for China-Africa and China-Tanzania cooperation.

2022 was a year of historic significance in the history of China-Tanzania relations. In November last year, President Samia Suluhu Hassan made a successful visit to China.

The two heads of state jointly announced the elevation of the bilateral relationship to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and reached an important consensus on enhancing economic and trade ties between the two countries and deepening high-quality Belt and Road cooperation.

Fifteen documents for practical cooperation were signed during the visit. Under the guidance of the two heads of state, we are more confident of the bright future of China-Tanzania cooperation. China is ready to promote the alignment of the two countries’ development strategies and policy coordination, accelerate the implementation of the “nine programs” of China-Africa cooperation in Tanzania, and deepen high-quality Belt and Road cooperation with Tanzania.

Additionally, we will actively carry out the Global Development Initiative, intensify mutually beneficial cooperation in the areas of agriculture, infrastructure, processing and manufacturing, health care, tourism, and green development, and consolidate the three pillars of China-Tanzania cooperation, namely trade, investment, and financing, so as to continuously benefit our two peoples with more and better cooperation fruits.