China has defied claims by Western media signalling an economic slowdown in China and said that, while economic recovery is tortuous, the country’s economy will remain a source of strength for world economic recovery.
Responding to questions on reports claiming that a Chinese economic slowdown may pose risks to global economic growth, Chinese Foreign Ministry (FM) spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Wednesday, “China remains an important engine for world economic growth.”
Facts Will Prove Reports Wrong
Wang said, “After the smooth transition of the epidemic prevention and control, China’s economic recovery is a wave-like development and a tortuous process, which will inevitably face difficulties and problems.”
“Certain Western politicians and media have exaggerated and hyped up the current difficulties in China’s post-COVID economic recovery.”
#FMsays Some Western politicians and media have hyped up the temporary problems occurring in China's post-epidemic economic recovery process, and they will eventually be proven wrong by facts, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said. #China #economy @MFA_China
— Zhang Heqing (@zhang_heqing) August 16, 2023
Credit… pic.twitter.com/MxDRrExoAX
Asserting that facts will prove reports by the Western media wrong, Wang said, “The Chinese economy enjoys strong resilience, ample potential, and robust dynamism, and the fundamentals sustaining China’s sound economic growth in the long run remain unchanged.”
Wang emphasised that China has the confidence, conditions, and ability to meet the economic and social development targets set for 2023.
China’s Progress Amid World Economic Recovery
Wang said that China’s high-quality economic development has made solid progress with bright spots in both the quality and quantity of growth.
“Despite the contracted foreign demand, China’s export has maintained a generally stable global market share in the first seven months of this year,” he highlighted.
The spokesperson further stated, “The sluggish world economic recovery, combined with unabated inflation, financial turbulence and rising debt pressure, poses significant economic challenges for all countries.”
“Challenges are to be expected. We never shy away from them. Instead, we respond to them head-on.”
China’s Economic Growth, Media Reports
Wang said, “For the first half of this year, China’s GDP grew by 5.5 per cent year-on-year, visibly faster than the three-per cent growth rate last year.”
He also mentioned that the growth rate was three percentage points higher than the growth rate of the US economy.
“According to the IMF World Economic Outlook updated last month, China’s economy is expected to grow by 5.2 per cent and account for one-third of global growth this year,” the spokesperson underscored.
Wang’s comments came despite the release of a batch of economic data on Tuesday, which hinted that despite recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, there is persistent downward pressure.
Biden warns #China economy is ‘ticking time bomb.’ Biden’s swipes at China’s $18tn economy come at a sensitive time for Xi. Although Biden misrepresented key statistics about China, overall outlook remains grim. China’s GDP grew at slower-than-expected pace of 5.5% in H1 2023… pic.twitter.com/hx5wfkpLNR
— Holger Zschaepitz (@Schuldensuehner) August 12, 2023
The country’s central bank has also cut key policy interest rates in a bid to boost the economy.
Reports have said the country’s retail sales and industrial production in July missed economists’ expectations.
According to recent reports, economic growth plummeted to 0.8 per cent in the three months ending in June compared with the previous month, down from 2.2 per cent in January-March.
That is equivalent to a 3.2 per cent annual rate, which would be among China’s weakest in decades.
Xi Calls for Patience
As reports of China’s economic slump continue to emerge, China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) suspended the release of age group-specific unemployment data starting in August.
In June, China’s unemployment rate for 16 to 24-year-olds hit a record high of more than 21.3 per cent in the urban areas.
Amid these reports, the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) leading journal Qiushi published a speech by President Xi Jinping in February calling for maintaining “historic patience” as the country makes “step-by-step progress.”