Consumers leading country's broad economic recovery

The newly released data from National Bureau of Statistics show that the country's economic recovery gained momentum in May, injecting confidence into the gloomy global economy. NBS data released on Monday show factory activities continued to pick up in May with the value-added industrial output going up 4.4 percent year-on-year. Other key economic indicators also showed signs of a rebound.

These clear and positive signals have demonstrated that the impact of the virus on China's economy is only temporary. Just as Deutsche Bank's Chief Economist Michael Spencer predicted, China's economy could have a "very impressive" recovery and achieve growth.

First, China's domestic consumption has started to grow. Official statistics show that China's retail sales of consumer goods declined 2.8 percent year-on-year in May, rebounding from a 7.5 percent negative growth in April.

Despite a broader consumption downturn, the data showed online sales continues to be active, with an increase of 4.5 percent year-on-year in the first five months, up 2.8 percentage points from the first four months.

"The Chinese consumer is back, and we are well on way to a pretty broad consumer recovery," a Fortune magazine report in May quoted Andy Rothman, an investment analyst at the mutual fund company Matthews Asia, as saying.

Jeffrey Sachs, a renowned economics professor at Columbia University and a senior United Nations adviser, told Xinhua in a recent written interview that as China is coming out of lockdown ahead of other parts of the world, it will see an economic rebound in the second quarter, which will buoy markets abroad.

Second, the digital economy has well integrated with traditional industries with the help of 5G networking technology, big data centers and artificial intelligence, injecting vitality into the market.

Third, effective monetary and fiscal policies have helped strengthen the resilience of the Chinese economy.

Fourth, despite the impact of the novel coronavirus, China is still making rapid and steady progress in further opening-up.