(Countering New Crown Pneumonia) China's Economic War Epidemic: Interview with Standard Chartered President of China: Will Rely on China's Development
China News Agency, Beijing, March 13th (Reporter Wang Enbo) Under the influence of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, is foreign capital's confidence in China's economy and market shaken? Zhang Xiaolei, the president, president and vice chairman of Standard Chartered China, gave an answer in an exclusive interview with a reporter from China News Agency: "Standard Chartered Bank will firmly rely on the development of China."
Since the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia outbreak, due to the need for prevention and control, part of China's production and operation activities have been suspended, and the economy will inevitably be impacted in the short term. In February, China's manufacturing PMI dropped significantly, and the Standard Chartered China's SME confidence index also fell sharply that month.
"However, the trend of China's economic stability and long-term improvement has not changed," said Zhang Xiaolei. Standard Chartered is still optimistic about China's long-term development prospects and is full of confidence in its development in China.
She believes that China's economy remains extremely resilient, demand is strong, and production will show a strong rebound after the shock. Economic data before the outbreak of the epidemic showed that when China was replaced last year and earlier this year, domestic and foreign demand showed signs of improvement. With the loosening support of monetary and financial policies, the momentum of demand improvement should be sustainable, and the demand for resumption of production and replenishment of inventory is expected to make the economy in the second three quarters of this year grow more than 6.0% year-on-year.
Zhang Xiaolei further pointed out that from the recent confirmed and suspected case data, the spread of the epidemic in China has been effectively controlled, which has created good conditions for the economic recovery in the second quarter. A February survey of Chinese SMEs by the Standard Chartered research team also revealed that interviewed companies expect economic activity to recover once the epidemic is brought under control.
However, due to the severe impact of the epidemic on the service industries such as catering, accommodation and tourism, some small, medium and micro enterprises are walking on the "life and death line", and financial institutions are in urgent need of "blood transfusion".
"At a critical moment in the fight against the epidemic, how to stabilize, resume work, resist risks, and expand production capacity is a must-answer for many small and medium-sized enterprises." Zhang Xiaolei gave an example. To quickly respond to customer needs, Standard Chartered Bank's SME Finance Department was the first Within one working day, it took only half a day to complete a timely loan of RMB 1.75 million for an unsecured small loan of a glass product company in Taixing, Jiangsu Province.
According to reports, the company is a manufacturer of cosmetic packaging bottles, and its main downstream customers are major world-renowned beauty brands. With the continuous expansion of production capacity, the rapid development and robust growth of SMEs has always been accompanied by the common problem of a shortage of liquid funds. This financial support will escort it for its stable return to work, expansion of production capacity, and further participation in the production and operation of the global beauty industry chain.
During the epidemic, in order to ensure the resumption of work and production of various enterprises, including foreign companies, Chinese officials issued a number of pragmatic measures, including fiscal, financial, tax and other assistance policies.
Zhang Xiaolei said that in the face of the epidemic, the Chinese government has made decisive decisions and adopted effective measures. The whole society has demonstrated a high degree of unity and determination, and the community is united. It has effectively controlled the spread of the epidemic and is in the process of orderly restoration of various production activities. These measures are very timely and effective, and they are also very important. They are of great help to China's rapid economic recovery, global supply chain recovery, and effective global response to the epidemic.
Standard Chartered Research judged that with the full-scale resumption of work by enterprises, China's manufacturing, retail and real estate industries are expected to rebound rapidly, but we must also be alert to the decline in demand caused by outbreaks abroad that will affect export-oriented enterprises. Overall, China's operating capacity is expected to be higher than normal in the second and third quarters, with GDP growth rising to 6.5% and 6.2%, respectively.
It is worth mentioning that the pace of China's financial opening has not been affected by the epidemic. Recently, the central bank and other departments have issued documents to further accelerate the construction of Shanghai's international financial center and financial support for the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta.
"This move proves that the direction of China's financial opening-up will not change, it will only be deeper, broader and more substantial." Zhang Xiaolei believes that in the context of China's continuous reform and opening up and the promotion of an open world economy, the "Belt and Road" initiative, the Greater Bay Area plan , RMB internationalization, opening of the bond market, cross-border trade, green and sustainable finance, and the vigorous development of SMEs provide foreign financial institutions with tremendous development opportunities in both domestic and international markets.
"The impact of the epidemic is temporary, and the trend of China's economic stability and improvement is long-term. We will take a long-term view and seize the precious opportunities of China's opening to the outside world to help the Chinese economy." Zhang Xiaolei said. (Finish)