BEIJING: Heads of major international economic organizations hailed China’s remarkable economic achievements and expressed confidence that China will remain an engine of global growth when they met in Beijing for the “1+10” dialogue.
Chinese President Xi Jinping met with them on Tuesday, reaffirming China’s economic confidence and pledging to increase its opening-up to bring more development opportunities to the world.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, highlighted China’s economic achievements, saying that after more than 40 years of sustained and rapid development, China’s economy has ushered in a development phase of high quality, contributing around 30 percent to global economic growth.
Xi said China is fully confident in achieving its economic growth target this year and will continue to play its role as the main engine of global economic growth. A World Bank report released in 2022 found that from 2013 to 2021, China accounted for an average of 38.6% of global economic growth, surpassing the combined contribution of G7 countries, making it the main driver of global economic growth.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, as of October, China’s GDP in the first three quarters of 2024 reached 94.97 trillion yuan (about $13.09 trillion), reflecting year-on-year growth of 4.8%. at constant prices.
Xi vowed that China would further open up to the outside world, proactively align with high-level international economic and trade rules, and build an internationalized, law-based and market-oriented business environment to boost growth. global economy.
He also highlighted the significant progress made in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) over the past decade, saying the initiative builds a bridge for shared development between China and the world. Xi invited international economic organizations to participate in the BRI to promote the modernization of all countries.
So far, China has signed Belt and Road cooperation documents with more than 150 countries and more than 30 international organizations. Data from the Ministry of Commerce showed that by the end of 2023, Chinese companies had established 17,000 overseas businesses in BRI participating countries, with a direct investment stock exceeding $330 billion, while that the overseas economic and trade cooperation zones built under the initiative had created 530,000 local jobs.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Xi highlighted major challenges facing the international community, firmly opposed decoupling and protectionism, and stressed the importance of global cooperation in building a global economic system. open.
He called on countries to prioritize innovation, seize opportunities in areas such as the digital economy, artificial intelligence and low-carbon technologies, and support the cross-border flow of knowledge, technologies and talents to create new engines of economic growth. He strongly opposed approaches such as building “small courtyards with high walls” and “decoupling and breaking supply chains”, saying it would harm oneself and others.
As global trade faces headwinds from protectionism and geopolitical tensions, China has continued to expand its opening-up policies, making significant progress in further integrating its economy into the global market. One of the key measures was the implementation of the new foreign investment law in 2020. The law strengthens the protection of intellectual property rights, ensures a level playing field for foreign companies and promotes a business environment more transparent and fairer.
Additionally, in recent years the country has significantly eased restrictions on foreign capital in the financial services sector, allowing greater foreign participation in the banking, securities, insurance and asset management sectors. assets. China also completely lifted restrictions on foreign investment in manufacturing and launched pilot projects in the telecommunications and health sectors to expand foreign investment opportunities, signaling China’s determination to build a more open, inclusive and egalitarian global economy.
Discussing the importance of building an open global economy, Xi touched on China-US relations. He said China is willing to maintain dialogue, expand cooperation and manage differences with the U.S. government, expressing hope for stable, healthy and lasting development of bilateral relations.
“Tariff wars, trade wars and science and technology wars go against the trend of history and the laws of economics, and there will be no winner,” he said. declared.
