China’s economic rebound gives impetus to strong recovery

By Wang Ke

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In 2020, faced with grave and complex environment both at home and abroad, and the huge impact of

Covid-19 in particular, the Chinese government, under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core, has taken solid measures to stabilise employment, finance, foreign trade, foreign investment, domestic investment and market expectations, and fully safeguard employment, people’s livelihood, market entities, food and energy security, stability of industrial and supply chains and operation at grassroots levels. As a result, China’s economic operation has been stably resumed, and the employment and people’s livelihood have been safeguarded. The achievement of major objectives in China’s economic and social development in 2020 is better than expected.

Firstly, China became the only major economy in the world which achieved positive growth in 2020. The country’s GDP grew 2.3 percent year on year, exceeding the 100-trillion-yuan (around $15.4 trillion) threshold. Its annual grain output surpassed 650 billion kilograms for six consecutive years, and the growth of people’s income was basically in step with the country’s economic growth.

Secondly, decisive achievements were made in poverty alleviation. By the end of 2020, the remaining 5.51 million rural residents and 52 poor counties in China were all lifted out of poverty, which marked the eradication of extreme poverty in the country.

Thirdly, the employment and people’s livelihood were safeguarded. Despite the severe impact rarely seen in history, China has not experienced mass unemployment. The surveyed urban unemployment rate rose for a short time and then gradually dropped to 5.2 percent in November 2020, and more than 11 million new urban jobs were created. The Chinese government has done its utmost to secure market supply of daily necessities and stabilize their prices. The consumer price index rose only 2.5 percent in 2020, and nearly 300 million old people received the full payment of their pensions on time.

Fourthly, new drivers of development continued to gain strength. China has been resolutely implementing the strategy of innovation-driven development. Its spending on research and development continued to grow rapidly in 2020, with scientific and technological progress contributing nearly 60 percent of it economic growth. In the ranking of the WIPO Global Innovation Index, China moved up to the 14th place. Entrepreneurship and innovation by the general public have flourished, and large, medium and small enterprises have developed through collaborative innovation and connected development, giving birth to a large number of new technologies, and new forms and models of business.

Fifthly, important breakthroughs were made in opening up. In 2020, China’s foreign trade and actual utilization of FDI have bucked the global trend with growth. Steady progress was made in the joint implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership was successfully signed, creating the largest free trade area in the world. And the negotiations on the China-EU Comprehensive Agreement on Investment were completed on schedule.

Currently, the world is still facing two arduous tasks: epidemic control and prevention, and economic recovery. China’s economic rebound has brought impetus and confidence to the world economic recovery.

According to the latest estimates by the IMF, the global economy, which contracted 3.5 percent in 2020, will grow by 5.5 percent in 2021, while China’s economy will grow by 8.1 percent this year. The World Economic Outlook report released by the OECD in December 2020 predicts that China will contribute more than one-third of global economic growth in 2021. China’s remarkable economic performance will generate more opportunities for the economic development of African countries, including Tanzania.

We are ready to work with the Tanzanian side to actively implement the consensus reached in the telephone conversation between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Tanzanian counterpart John Magufuli last December, and the outcomes of the recent visit to Tanzania by Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

We shall make full use of the opportunities generated by China’s vigorous economic rebound, seek greater complementarity between our two countries’ development strategies, and enhance practical cooperation so as to further promote China-Tanzania friendly ties.