——By Mr. PENG Gang, Minister for Economic and Trade Affairs, Mission of the People’s Republic of China to the EU
China's Two Sessions, which were concluded not long ago, offer an important window for the world to observe and understand China. People both at home and abroad pay close attention to the Two Sessions, expecting that China's economic resilience and higher-level opening up will continue to bring more opportunities to global economy. Here, I would like to share my views on China's economy.
Currently, the world enters a new period of turmoil and changes while the global economy still limps along. Against this backdrop, the Chinese economy continues to grow despite external pressure and internal challenges. It not only achieved reasonable growth in quantity, but also achieved improvement in quality, bringing certainty and positive energy to the global economy which is full of uncertainties.
Firstly, China's economy moves forward steadily. In 2023, China’s gross domestic product surpassed 126 trillion RMB, achieving the growth target of 5.2% expected at the start of the year. Compared vertically, 5.2% is 2.2 percentage points higher than that of 2022, and is also faster than the average growth rate of 4.5% for the three years of the pandemic. Compared horizontally, a growth rate of 5.2% is significantly higher than the United States’ 2.5%, the Eurozone’s 0.4%, and Japan’s 1.9%, ranking China among the fastest-growing major economies in the world. In 2023, China contributed more than 30% to world economic growth and remains the most important engine for global economy.
Secondly, high-quality development advances solidly. The structure of China's economic development has been continuously optimized and upgraded, with the leading role of domestic demand more prominent. In 2023, final consumption contributed to 82.5% of the economic growth, driving economic growth by 4.3 percentage points. The transition from the old to the new driving forces has been accelerated. The added value of the equipment manufacturing industry increased by 6.8% year-on-year, and investment in high-tech manufacturing and services industries increased by 9.9% and 11.4% respectively. New progress has been made in social undertakings and public wellbeing. Per capita disposable income of residents increased by 6.1%. Besides, China stepped up efforts to build a unified national market and further improve its business environment.
Thirdly, the Chinese economy becomes more and more innovative and green. China's scientific and technological innovation continues to achieve new breakthroughs. In 2023, the number of invention patents granted exceeded 920,000, and the total expenditure on social research and experiment reached 3.3 trillion RMB. The integrated development of digital technology and the real economy has been accelerated, and the added value of the information transmission, software and information technology service industries increased by 11.9%. The number of 5G base stations reached 3.38 million by the end of 2023. The green and low-carbon transformation continued to deepen, with clean energy consumption accounting for 26.4% of total energy consumption. Over the past year, we also witnessed quite impressive performance of the exports of the "new trio", namely, electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries, and photovoltaic products.
As the second largest economy in the world, China's economy enjoys numerous advantages, strong resilience and great vitality. Its growth momentum will sustain in the long run. At the Two Sessions, China set a GDP growth target of about 5% for 2024, which fully shows that China has both the confidence and ability to promote sustainable economic recovery and further achieve high-quality development. Since the start of this year, we have already seen that factors for a stronger Chinese economy have been accumulating. In March, China’s manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose to 50.8%, marking an expansion for the first time in six months. The economy is expected to get off to a good start in the first quarter. China will continue to leverage its strong innovation capabilities, vast market, well-developed infrastructure, completed industrial chains, and a huge and high-caliber workforce to expand higher-level opening-up.
China will intensify its efforts to attract foreign investment. China will further shorten the negative list for foreign investment. All market access restrictions on foreign investment in manufacturing will be abolished, and market access restrictions in services sectors, such as telecommunications and healthcare, will be reduced. China will strengthen services for foreign investors and make itself a favored destination for foreign investment. Furthermore, we will make it easier for foreigners to work, to study, and to travel to and in China. We will continue to further foster a world-class business environment that is market-oriented, law-based and internationalized.
China’s high-quality economic development and high-level opening-up have provided more opportunities for market, investment, and growth to Europe and the whole world. China and the EU remain each other's second largest trading partner and major investment partners, with a bilateral trade volume exceeding 2 billion Euros per day and two-way investment stock exceeding 250 billion US dollars. China and the EU have already formed a strong economic symbiosis. More and more European companies have cast a vote of confidence in the Chinese market, and continued to enhance their business in China. At the same time, more Chinese companies are demonstrating great enthusiasm in exploring the European market. They bring considerable tax revenue and new jobs to Europe and strongly support Europe’s green and digital transition and economic recovery.
Openness brings progress, and cooperation creates the future. As two major forces, two major markets and two major civilizations in the world, China and the EU share extensive common interests. In fact, our cooperation outweighs competition, and our consensus overrides differences. Both sides should uphold the principles of mutual respect and equal treatment, strengthen our complementarities in market, capital, and technological advantages, share development opportunities, make the cooperation pie bigger so as to further deepen our pragmatic trade and economic cooperation and contribute more to world peace, stability, and prosperity.
