General

According to the Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation, as the vane of China's economic policy in the new year, the Central Economic Work Conference held at the end of 2022 recently triggered a heated discussion in the foreign media.

Standing at the beginning of the year 2023, observing the world economy, various challenges have intensified and various contradictions have become increasingly prominent. Under the multiple impacts of the epidemic, geopolitical conflicts, supply chain challenges, inflationary pressures and other factors, the global economic growth expectations are still not optimistic. In this context, the international community has turned more attention to the East and expects the stable and upward Chinese economy to inject more momentum and provide strong support for the world economic recovery.

Release positive signals

As a weathervane of China's economic policy in the new year, the Central Economic Work Conference held at the end of 2022 has recently triggered continuous heated discussions in foreign media.

According to Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation, when China's economy is under pressure, the Central Economic Work Conference released a series of clear signals, stressing the need to maintain stable economic operation, support the development and growth of private economy and private enterprises, and require leaders at all levels to solve problems, do practical things for private enterprises, and build a pro-Qing political and business relationship, which is conducive to boosting market confidence and rejuvenating China's economy as soon as possible.

This is an important economic work conference held at the moment when China's economy is entering a critical stage of recovery. China said that it should focus on the development of the real economy, rely on innovation to cultivate and expand new drivers of development, and strive to achieve effective improvement in the quality of the economy and reasonable growth in quantity.

The Australian Financial Review website reported that economists said that the signal released by China's meeting was very clear. In 2023, China will implement more preferential policies to encourage private enterprises to grow and expand market access for foreign investment. It will also support Internet platform companies to play an important role in economic development, job creation and international market competition.

Many foreign media have paid attention to the adjustment of China's epidemic prevention and control policies. According to CNN, as China optimizes its epidemic prevention policy and introduces favorable economic measures, many international financial institutions, such as Goldman Sachs, Societe Generale and Morgan Stanley, expect that China's economy will recover steadily in 2023.

According to Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation, in the first year of the outbreak of the epidemic, the Chinese government quickly blocked the transmission chain of the virus with efficient control and restored the normal life of the people. I believe that under the new challenges, the Chinese government can also "restore the dynamic economic and social life" with a flexible and pragmatic spirit and firm determination.

The American Consumer News and Business Channel (CNBC) quoted analysts as saying that as China continues to optimize its epidemic prevention policy, the Chinese economy is bound to usher in a strong rebound. "We see a strong growth prospect". Bloomberg also believes that the transformation of China's epidemic prevention policy will pave the way for a more comprehensive economic recovery.

Demonstrate strong resilience

"2022 is a year when China will go all out." The Latin American News Agency recently published an article on this topic, saying that although the epidemic situation, natural disasters and other factors have had a negative impact on China's economy and also frustrated key areas such as consumption, the Chinese government has taken a series of measures to ensure food security, expand the introduction of foreign capital, and support the recovery of small and medium-sized enterprises to reverse the adverse effects. According to the article, the convening of the 20th CPC National Congress in 2022 will guide China to become a socialist modern power, and this "Asian giant" will strive to achieve high-quality development to build a solid material foundation, so as to continue to promote the socialist cause under the successful reform and opening up model.

Statistics show that China's GDP in the third quarter of 2022 increased by 3.9% year-on-year; The added value of high-tech manufacturing and equipment manufacturing in the first three quarters increased by 8.5% and 6.3% respectively year on year; From January to November, the total import and export value of goods trade was 38.34 trillion yuan, an increase of 8.6% year on year... For a period of time, in the face of multiple risks and challenges, China's economy has shown strong resilience and great vitality, making the international community full of confidence in China's economic prospects, Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation reported.

Chinese enterprises invest more reasonably in their own capital, and spend more money on upgrading equipment, research and development, establishing a safe supply chain and improving technology. A Bloomberg comment reminded investors not to misjudge China - China is focused on achieving higher quality growth through industrial policies, and China is shifting to manufacturing higher quality and more valuable products.

"China attaches great importance to scientific and technological progress and development, and actively expands cooperation with high-tech enterprises from all over the world. Through experience exchange and complementary cooperation, enterprises from all countries have achieved mutual benefit and win-win results." According to the article published by the Spanish newspaper Rationale, in recent years, the scientific and technological cooperation between Spain and China has been continuously promoted, especially in the field of renewable energy, which has brought new development opportunities for enterprises from both countries. Benefiting from China's ambitious clean energy development goals and the accelerating pace of opening up, new energy enterprises from all countries, including Spanish enterprises, have found new opportunities and broad prospects for cooperation.

In the first three quarters of 2022, the total retail sales of consumer goods in China exceeded 32 trillion yuan, an increase of 0.7% year on year, of which 3.5% in the third quarter. Many foreign media pointed out that the fundamental role of domestic demand and consumption in China's economic development has been continuously improved.

The Australian News Network recently quoted a report on the development opportunities of small and medium-sized enterprises in China released by the Australian Federation of Asian Nations Business Center, saying that China is one of the largest and most dynamic consumer markets in the world, and it is in the leading position in logistics and e-commerce innovation and will accelerate its development. In recent years, the growing wealth of Chinese households has been one of the main drivers of China's economic growth. It has maintained stronger consumer spending, business confidence and capital investment.

Drive global growth

In 2023, under the influence of multiple factors such as epidemic situation and geopolitical conflict, the downside risk of the global economy is still increasing. Both OECD and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development forecast that the global economic growth rate will slow to 2.2% in 2023. As the Lianhe Zaobao said, "China's economic prospects are related to the prosperity of the world." Many foreign media regard China as the "hope".

Bloomberg recently quoted an economist from the International Finance Association as saying that "China, which is constantly optimizing epidemic prevention and control measures, will be the biggest driver of global economic growth."

A recent report in the Wall Street Journal quoted several economists as saying that China's optimization of epidemic prevention and control measures will release consumption potential and promote economic development, which is "extremely important" for the global economy. Barron Weekly also published an article saying that China's optimization of epidemic prevention policy will add hope to its economy in 2023, while improving the possibility of a soft landing of the world economy.

China's economy has shown a steady and positive trend, releasing the "magnetic force" of attracting investment to global enterprises. China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) recently conducted a rapid survey of more than 160 foreign-funded enterprises and foreign business associations in China. The survey results show that 99.4% of the foreign-funded enterprises surveyed are more confident about the prospects of China's economic development in 2023, 98.7% of the foreign-funded enterprises surveyed said they would maintain and expand their investment in China, and 89.8% of the foreign-funded enterprises surveyed said they would maintain the industrial chain in China.

Yum! China's net profit in the third quarter of 2022 almost doubled to $206 million, and its restaurant profit margin jumped to 18.8% from 12.2% in the same period last year, the highest level since 2018. According to the performance report of BMW Group in Germany, the net profit in the third quarter of 2022 was 3.175 billion euros, up 22.9% year on year. Under the circumstance that the total sales of new cars fell by 0.9% year-on-year and the sales of European market fell by 11.1%, the sales of Chinese market rose by 5.7% against the trend.

"The Chinese economy is still a huge opportunity for western enterprises." Bloomberg quoted Axel Weber, president of the International Finance Association, as saying that the current anti-globalization trend - that is, trying to "decouple" from the Chinese economy will greatly hinder the growth of the world economy, especially for developing economies. Without China, the global economy cannot function normally.