Make positive contributions to promoting the recovery of the world economy

The gross domestic product exceeded 27 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.8% year-on-year; the total import and export value of trade in goods increased by 10.7% year-on-year, the actual use of foreign capital increased by 25.6% year-on-year, both of which continued double-digit growth; foreign industry-wide direct investment was 217.76 billion yuan, an increase of 5.6% year-on-year, of which non-financial direct investment in countries along the "Belt and Road" increased by 19% year-on-year... China's economic data in the first quarter show that China's national economy continues to recover and develop, and foreign trade and foreign investment continue to improve, highlighting China's positive contribution to stabilizing the global industrial chain supply chain and promoting the sustained recovery of the world economy.

International people interviewed by this reporter believe that China's economy has strong resilience and vitality, and the long-term fundamentals will not change. China's expansion of high-level opening up to the outside world and the promotion of high-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road" have continued to achieve practical results, and will continue to boost confidence in global economic recovery and jointly build an open world economy.

"Attractiveness to foreign investment will be further enhanced"

Attracting foreign investment is a window to observe a country's level of openness, and it is also a barometer that reflects a country's economic vitality. In the first quarter of this year, China actually used 379.87 billion yuan of foreign capital. Among them, the investment in high-tech industries grew rapidly, reaching 132.83 billion yuan, an increase of 52.9% year-on-year.

In Hainan, the free trade port policy has gradually landed, the Hainan free trade port 2022 (the first batch) of key projects centralized signing activities were held, biomedicine and other key foreign-funded projects have been unveiled; in Beijing, benefiting from the expansion and opening up of the national service industry comprehensive demonstration zone and the acceleration of the construction of the free trade pilot zone, high-tech transnational investment continues to improve, investment in the field of digital economy has increased significantly...

Tang Zhimin, director of the China-ASEAN Research Center of the Chia Tai Institute of Management in Thailand, said that the stable quantity and quality and better structure are the significant characteristics of China's attraction of foreign investment. China has continuously promoted the optimization and upgrading of its industrial structure in the process of high-quality economic development and sustained high-level opening up, bringing more new opportunities for more foreign investment to high-tech industries.

According to a recent report released by the German Chamber of Commerce in China and the American Chamber of Commerce in China, 71% of German-funded enterprises and more than 60% of American-funded enterprises plan to increase investment in China. In the first quarter, the BMW Group increased its capital by 27.9 billion yuan, BMW Chairman Chiptse said that China is one of the most important innovation markets in the world, BMW has established the largest research and development system in China outside Germany, and will open two new factories in Shenyang and Zhangjiagang this year. The sustained and stable growth of China's economy will bring more opportunities, and BMW has always been optimistic about the development prospects of the Chinese market.

Zvonimir Stöpić, assistant professor at the Zagreb School of Economics and Management in Croatia, believes that China's scientific coordination of epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development, continuous optimization of the business environment, and release more policy dividends, foreign enterprises are generally optimistic about China's economic development prospects and broad market opportunities.

Mao Xuxin, chief economist of the British National Institute of Economic and Social Research, said that China will unswervingly deepen reform, expand opening up, reduce the negative list of foreign investment access year by year, implement the national treatment of foreign-funded enterprises, and expand the scope of encouraging foreign investment, etc. A series of policy measures have created favorable conditions and a good environment for the continuous development of foreign-funded enterprises in China. "The open, inclusive and diversified Chinese market will further enhance the attractiveness of foreign investment."

"New progress continues to be made in jointly building the 'Belt and Road'"

In the first quarter, China's total import and export volume to countries along the "Belt and Road" was 2.93 trillion yuan, an increase of 16.7% year-on-year, accounting for 31.1% of the total value of the mainland's foreign trade imports and exports, an increase of 1.4 percentage points over last year; China signed 24.64 billion US dollars in contracted projects along the "Belt and Road", and completed turnover of 15.97 billion US dollars, accounting for 52% and 55.1% of the total in the same period, respectively.

Last year, the port of Antwerp, Belgium, continued to achieve a total throughput of more than 12 million TEUs. As the second largest port in Europe, the port of Antwerp has been operating at a high level during the epidemic prevention and control period, and many data have maintained growth. Recently, the port of Antwerp and the port of Zeebrugge, another major port in Belgium, were officially merged to form the port of Antwerp-Bruges, becoming the largest export port, the largest motor port and the largest integrated chemical cluster in Europe. Antwerp Deputy Mayor Utres said that Antwerp is an important city along the "Belt and Road". During the epidemic prevention and control period, the port and China's cargo transportation remained basically stable and smooth, "not only providing important support for the prevention and control of the epidemic and economic recovery in Europe, but also playing a positive role in maintaining the stability of the regional and global industrial chain supply chains".

In 2021, the trade volume between China and the EU exceeded 800 billion US dollars for the first time, the two-way investment was stable and progressive, the cumulative scale exceeded 270 billion US dollars, and the trade in aerospace, biology, optoelectronics, electronics and other fields increased significantly. Ivica Bakota, assistant professor at the Zagreb School of Economics and Management in Croatia, said that with the continuous advancement of the high-quality development of the "Belt and Road", the investment cooperation between all parties in high technology, green and low-carbon, innovative industries and other fields has become increasingly close, bringing more new development opportunities for countries and regions along the "Belt and Road", including Central and Eastern European countries.

Last year, China's trade with Latin America exceeded US$450 billion, an increase of 41.1% year-on-year, a record high, and China continued to maintain its position as Latin America's second largest trading partner. Argentine economist Suardi said that Chinese banks in Latin America have played an important role in promoting bilateral trade cooperation and direct investment. With the deepening of cooperation between Argentina and China under the framework of jointly building the "Belt and Road", the export volume of argentine soybeans and other major products has increased significantly, which has effectively promoted the country's economic development.

Ignacio Martinez, a researcher at the Center for International Relations of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, said that the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" is highly consistent with the goals of increasing infrastructure investment in Latin America, and "the joint construction of the 'Belt and Road' continues to make new progress, which will help countries in the region to build a new development vision."

"It will bring greater confidence and strength to global economic growth in the post-pandemic era"

In the first quarter, imports and exports between China and its major trading partners both increased. Over the same period, China's imports and exports to its regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trading partners increased by 6.9%.

Frederick Baldan, CEO of Cyberthes Sino-European Business Consulting in Belgium, said: "China's economic development has great potential, resilience and vitality, which will not only attract global investors to invest in China, provide broader market opportunities for countries, but also provide strong momentum for the stabilization and recovery of the world economy." ”

A few days ago, the opening ceremony of the two-way folio train of the new western land-sea corridor "RCEP - Beibu Bay Port - Henan" railway-sea intermodal transport was held simultaneously in Qinzhou, Guangxi and Luohe, Henan. This marks the first expansion of the operation scope of the new western land-sea corridor from the western region of China to the central province of Henan, and the transportation channels for goods and raw materials facing the markets of RCEP member countries have been further enriched. In the first quarter, the railway-sea intermodal train of the new land-sea corridor in the west sent more than 170,000 TEUs of container cargo, an increase of 56.5% year-on-year.

Stephen Enderwa, head of the Kenya South-South Cooperation Think Tank, said that under the background of repeated global epidemic delays and difficult recovery of the world economy, China's economy has maintained a sustained recovery trend, continued to expand high-level opening up, effectively promoted the development of regional economic and trade cooperation, and brought more stable forces to the global economy in uncertainty.

Yasir Masood, a world economics and politics researcher at the National Defence University of Pakistan, said that in the face of the challenge of the epidemic, China has successfully maintained a stable supply to domestic and foreign markets. As an important participant in the global industrial chain supply chain, China has accelerated the construction of a new development pattern and focused on promoting high-quality development, which "will bring greater confidence and strength to global economic growth in the post-epidemic era".

Valaro, former Minister of Economy and Finance of Morocco, said that as the main stabilizer and power source of world economic growth, China has comprehensive competitive advantages such as strong economic governance capabilities, complete industrial system and large market space, and can achieve sustained and healthy economic development. Looking forward to the future, the prospects for high-quality development of China's economy are bright, and the Chinese market is full of opportunities, which will inject more positive energy into the recovery of the world economy.

(Beijing, Bangkok, Cairo, Islamabad, Rome, Johannesburg, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, May 1, reporters Yang Yi, Liu Hui, Huang Peizhao, Cheng Shijie, Xie Yahong, Yan Yunming, Bi Mengying, Peng Min)

Source: People's Daily