By He Yin, People’s Daily
The international community has paid high attention to the ongoing “two sessions” in China, looking forward to more positive messages of promoting high-quality economic development and injecting more vitality and confidence into the global economy that is facing downward pressure.
The annual meetings of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) bring together thousands of national legislators and political advisors.
International personages have voiced support for China’s firm endeavor to pursue high-quality development unveiled in the meetings, believing that it will create more opportunities for the world and contribute to world economic recovery.
High-quality development is the first and foremost task in building a modern socialist country in all respects, said Chinese President Xi Jinping while attending a deliberation with his fellow deputies from the delegation of east China’s Jiangsu province at the first session of the 14th NPC on March 5.
During the deliberation, Xi stressed that efforts should be made to fully and faithfully apply the new development philosophy on all fronts, and better coordinate the effective upgrade in quality with the appropriate expansion in quantity in economic development.
China must unswervingly deepen reform and opening-up and transform the development model, and the happiness and well-being of the people are the ultimate goals of promoting high-quality development, Xi said.
The remarks have charted the course and provided fundamental guidance for advancing high-quality development under new conditions and further enhanced the international community’s confidence in China’s economic development.
China aims to expand its economy by around 5 percent in 2023, according to a government work report submitted to the national legislature for deliberation.
The international community generally believes that the growth target is scientifically reasonable and has demonstrated to the world its firm resolve to promote high-quality economic development.
During the past five years, China’s gross domestic product (GDP) has grown to over 121 trillion yuan ($17.95 trillion) at an average annual rate of 5.2 percent in spite of multiple challenges, including the rapidly evolving international landscape, impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and domestic economic downward pressure.
Over the past decade, the country achieved a medium-high rate of economic growth given its large economic aggregate and transitioned to high-quality development. During the period, the country’s GDP has increased by nearly 70 trillion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of 6.2 percent.
Such remarkable achievements have fully proven that the fundamentals remain unchanged, and the Chinese economy still enjoys strong resilience, enormous potential, great vitality and long-term sustainability.
International organizations and investment institutions have lifted their growth forecasts on China’s economic growth this year as a result of their growing confidence in its economy.
“If you are looking for growth, the answer is very simple. The next China is China,” said Joe Ngai, managing partner of McKinsey Greater China. The positive judgment on China’s economic outlook has sparked widespread resonance in the international community.
China accounts for more than 18 percent of the world economy and contributes around 30 percent to global economic growth. It ranks first globally in terms of trade in goods and services, and has become a major trading partner of more than 140 countries and regions.
The country has the world’s most complete and largest industrial system with strong industrial supporting capacity. It also enjoys great technological innovation capacity and industrial production capacity.
China is in the process of industrialization and urbanization. Its middle-income group is expected to exceed 800 million in the next 15 years, further driving the development of an enormous market.
During the past five years, China’s research and development (R&D) spending intensity has increased from 2.1 percent to more than 2.5 percent, and the contribution of scientific and technological progress to its economic growth has exceeded 60 percent, demonstrating the increasing capability to support development with innovations.
As of the end of 2022, China has registered over 52 million enterprises and 110 million self-employed individuals, indicating significant improvement in its endogenous driving force for development.
Such achievements have given China confidence on the path of its high-quality economic development, and made the international community optimistic about China’s economic growth prospects.
China accelerates the establishment of a new development pattern and remains committed to improving the quality of development while expanding high-level opening-up, injecting important momentum into global economic development.
Over the past five years, China’s total volume of trade in goods has surpassed 40 trillion yuan at an average annual growth rate of 8.6 percent, ranking first in the world for many consecutive years. Meanwhile, the country has been a major destination for foreign investment and a leading global outbound investor.
This year, China will prioritize the recovery and expansion of consumption, intensify efforts to attract and utilize foreign investment, steadily expand institutional opening-up, and continue the transition to green development. Such endeavors are expected to bring more opportunities to enterprises from all countries.
In January this year, China got off to a good start in attracting foreign investment, as the foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Chinese mainland, in actual use, expanded 14.5 percent year on year to 127.69 billion yuan.
Many foreign-funded companies regard China as one of the most important destinations for investment and plan to increase investment in the country.
China is advancing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization. Pursuing high-quality development is one of the essential requirements for the Chinese path to modernization.
Adhering to the general principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability, China will fully and faithfully apply its new development philosophy on all fronts, and accelerate creating a new development pattern.
It is ready to boost global economic recovery by promoting its high-quality development and create new opportunities for the world by striving for new achievements in development.
