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BEIJING, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

Over the past three years, China has weathered several COVID-19 waves with

massive vaccination drive. This has enabled the country to maintain the world's

lowest rates of severe illness and mortality.

In response to the constantly evolving situation, China has optimized its

COVID-19 response strategy by coordinating epidemic prevention and control with

economic and social development.

In early 2023, China's economy is showing positive signs, with several

developments suggesting its capacity to drive global growth.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that China's

value-added industrial output, a crucial indicator on the supply side,

increased by 2.4 percent year on year in the first two months of 2023.

On the demand side, key metrics for consumption, investment and foreign trade

rose during the same period. Retail sales of consumer goods and fixed-asset

investment increased by 3.5 and 5.5 percent, respectively.

Steady economic growth

As consumer confidence is gradually restored and pro-consumption policies take

effect, the NBS expects the revival of consumption to continue.

To stimulate domestic consumption, the government has rolled out supportive

policies nationwide, including issuing purchase vouchers to the public and

launching consumption promotion festivals.

China continues to put emphasis on high-quality development, including

prompting the real economy, advancing high-end manufacturing and accelerating

the construction of a modern industrial system, according to the State Council.

The country is targeting steady economic growth and has set the gross domestic

product (GDP) target at approximately 5 percent.

Despite the rebound in the first two months of this year, China still needs to

encourage consumer spending and strengthen the foundation for sustainable

economic recovery, said NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui during a press conference

last Wednesday.

Starting from March 27, the People's Bank of China will reduce the reserve

requirement ratio (RRR) for financial institutions (excluding those already

implementing a 5-percent ratio) by 0.25 percentage points. After the reduction,

the weighted average RRR for lenders will drop to around 7.6 percent.

The move is designed to maintain a reasonably ample amount of liquidity to

serve the real economy and provide financing support to stimulate domestic

demand.

Stable growth amid difficulties

China's economy has maintained stable growth amid the resurgence of COVID-19 in

the past year.

According to the NBS, the country's GDP hit an all-time high of 121 trillion

yuan (about $17.95 trillion) in 2022, after surpassing the thresholds of 100

trillion yuan in 2020 and 110 trillion yuan in 2021.

Meanwhile, value-added industrial output rose by 3.6 percent year on year.

Notably, the high-tech manufacturing and equipment manufacturing sectors showed

significant growth momentum with the output values increasing by 7.4 percent

and 5.6 percent, respectively.

Despite multiple challenges over the past three years, China has maintained

stability in its economy. It was one of the first countries in the world to

resume work and reopen businesses in 2020 and was the only major economy to

attain positive growth that year.

"China has been working on minimizing the impact of the pandemic on its supply

chains and business operations," said Professor Liu Bin at the China Institute

for WTO Studies under the University of International Business and Economics in

Beijing.

To stabilize economic growth, China has implemented several policies, including

mobilizing funds for infrastructure investment, reducing utility costs for

market entities, and providing assistance to companies severely impacted by the

pandemic to help ease their financial burdens.

According to Liu, the rebound in China's economic growth is expected to be

faster than in the international market, which is important for boosting

confidence in the global economic recovery.

Due to China's large role in global trade, its economic recovery could inject

vitality into the global economy, said Liu.

Data from the General Administration of Customs shows that China's total trade

in goods reached 42.07 trillion yuan (about $6.21 trillion) in 2022, ranking

first globally for a sixth consecutive year.

In addition, official data shows that China has led the world in exports for 14

consecutive years, taking up 14.7 percent of the global export market.

"Apart from the important role that China plays in global trade, its exports

also contribute greatly to its GDP growth," said Bai Rangrang, associate

professor of the Department of Applied Economics at the School of Management

under Fudan University.

"To some extent, it made up the gap in the drop of household consumption and

business investment last year," he said, noting that an important factor behind

this is that China has opened up wider to the world.

Analysis: China's economic resilience boosts global recovery prospects China's

economy is showing positive signs in early 2023, with several developments

suggesting its capacity to drive global growth. CGTN,China Global Television

Network (

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-03-24/Analysis-China-s-economic-resilience-boosts-global-recovery-prospects-1iqoD1NKydi/index.html

)

Source: CGTN