Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, July 27 - Financial Observer: China's economic resilience of the world's attention
Xinhua News Agency reporter
In the first half of the year, China's economy fell first and then rose. In the second quarter, economic growth turned from negative to positive. This achievement was not easy to come by. Overseas experts and scholars generally believe that China can become the first major economy to resume growth since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, and the strong economic resilience behind it is impressive.
Only a good foundation can recover quickly. China's economic resilience comes from various market entities that have grown vigorously since reform and opening up. By the end of 2019, China had 123 million market players, including 38.58 million enterprises and 82.61 million individual industrial and commercial households. Since the outbreak of the epidemic, various market players have actively participated in the fight against the epidemic and worked hard to save themselves. The Chinese economy has achieved restorative growth driven by the concerted efforts of all parties.
Jeffrey Sachs, a professor of economics at Columbia University in the United States, said that China's GDP growth in the second quarter of 3.2% was "very encouraging."
Liu Hong, Dean of the Nanyang Public Administration Graduate School of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, said that from a decline of 6.8% in the first quarter to an increase of 3.2% in the second quarter, the changes in the numbers indicate that the Chinese economy has gradually emerged from the haze of the epidemic.
Lucas Guarda, an expert on China issues in Argentina and an adviser to the National Senate, believes that the 4.4% year-on-year increase in the added value of China's industrial enterprises above designated size in the second quarter was the result of the resumption of work and production by most enterprises. In the future, as more companies operate normally, China's industrial output will be more optimistic.
New ideas can go far enough, and China's economic resilience cannot be separated from the rise of new momentum. China's digital economy has been accumulated for many years, not only helping to ensure the smooth operation of society during the epidemic, but also becoming a new advantage for China's economic development.
The "China Internet Development Report 2019" shows that in 2018, China's digital economy reached 31.3 trillion yuan, accounting for 34.8% of GDP. The digital economy has become a new engine for China's economic growth.
During the epidemic, new momentum continued to grow against the trend, providing a strong impetus for China's economic recovery. In the first half of this year, the added value of strategic emerging industries above designated size increased by 2.9% year-on-year, and the added value of high-tech manufacturing industries above designated size increased by 4.5% year-on-year.
Guarda is impressed by the strong performance of China's Internet economy. He said that although China's consumption in the first half of the year fell year-on-year and offline consumption was suppressed by the epidemic, the growth rate of online consumption continued to accelerate and its proportion continued to rise. Many e-commerce platforms rose against the trend and stimulated new consumption potential.
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics of China, in the first half of the year, China's online consumption accelerated its expansion. The online retail sales of physical goods increased by 14.3% over the same period last year, and the growth rate increased by 8.4% from the first quarter; the online retail sales of physical goods accounted for the total retail sales of consumer goods. The proportion was 25.2%, an increase of 5.6 percentage points over the same period last year.
Many guarantees have a strong momentum, and China's economic resilience benefits from the intensive introduction and rapid implementation of government measures to guarantee market players. Since the outbreak of the epidemic, China has implemented a proactive fiscal policy, a stable and flexible monetary policy, and various measures that take both pertinence and timeliness into account and focus precisely on key links and weak links in economic operations.
According to data from the People’s Bank of China, China’s new renminbi loans were 12.09 trillion yuan in the first half of the year, an increase of 2.42 trillion yuan year-on-year. Most of the new loans went to the real economy. Statistics also show that this year’s central government’s transfer payments to local governments amounted to 8.39 trillion yuan, an increase of 950 billion yuan over the previous year, an increase of 12.8%. Both the increase and the rate of increase are the highest in recent years, and the focus is on the central and western regions and difficult regions.
Yu Hong, a senior researcher at the Institute of East Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore, believes that China has a huge domestic market and a vibrant regional economy, coupled with the government’s targeted fiscal and taxation and financial measures to support enterprises, which play an important role in economic recovery and growth. It shows the resilience and potential of China's economic development.
The steady recovery of the Chinese economy in the first half of the year has laid a solid foundation for continued recovery in the second half of the year. Overseas experts and scholars generally believe that China’s development opportunities should not be missed, but long-term perspectives should be taken to enhance win-win cooperation.
Brazilian economist Ronny Lins said that thanks to proper epidemic prevention and control measures, China's resumption of work and production, and the resumption of business and markets have accelerated, and the Chinese economy is recovering steadily, which will help the world economy to get rid of the impact of the epidemic.
Ong Shijie, chairman of Malaysia's New Asia Strategy Research Center, said that China is an important partner of ASEAN, and China's second quarter economic data is a "reassurance" for ASEAN countries. After the epidemic is alleviated, only by strengthening regional cooperation and coordination, and committed to achieving sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth, can ASEAN countries be expected to achieve a strong recovery.
Caroline Fairbairn, head of the Confederation of British Industry, said that the relationship between Britain and China is crucial to Britain's global competitiveness and broader interests, and the United Kingdom should not miss China's development opportunities.
In the eyes of Jean-Paul Angon, CEO of French beauty giant L'Oréal Group, China is an "innovation accelerator" and "stabilizer" in the global supply system.
"China's competitive advantage in the global supply chain comes not only from cost and scale, but also from its market potential, quality, innovation and sustainability," An Gong said. "The trend of globalization is unstoppable, and the new globalization will Based on open cooperation and digital innovation, China will play a greater role.” (Notewriter: Xu Supei; Participating reporters: Wang Lili, Xia Lixin, Ni Ruijie, Chen Weihua, Zhao Yan, Lin Hao, Xiong Maoling, Yu Jiaxin, Xu Yongchun, Zhou Rui, Su Liang)