Communication, exchange still key to counter anti-globalization sentiment

Helping the world better understand China can not be achieved without meeting face to face.

Even as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted global economic and social order, it can not sever communication and exchanges for good. The Understanding China Conference was held in south China's Guangzhou city from Friday to Sunday, serving as an important platform for China and the rest of the world to enhance mutual understanding at such a critical time.

More than 600 celebrated politicians, senior business executives, strategists, scholars, and entrepreneurs from more than 20 nations and regions attended the three-day event online and offline this year and shared their views on China, international trade, and globalization.

Through panel discussions, lectures, and cultural exchanges, participants gained a deeper understanding of China's development philosophy and development pattern.

One of the keys to understanding China is to understand its economy. The leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has adopted proposals for formulating the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035. Participants are confident that China will achieve high-quality development in that period, which will bring opportunities and prosperity to the rest of the world.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected the global economy would contract sharply by 4.4 percent this year in its latest World Economic Outlook (WEO) report, released in October.

The current difficulties facing the Chinese and the world economy should not be underestimated, but confidence is restorable considering positive signs in economic operation and the fact that relying on global cooperation to reactivate growth is an irreversible trend.

The Chinese economy contracted by 6.8 percent year on year in the first quarter but expanded by 3.2 percent in the second quarter and maintained a steady growth of 4.9 percent in the third quarter, showing a V-shaped recovery. According to the IMF, China will likely be the only major economy in the world to see growth in 2020.

China's manufacturing activities stood in expansion territory for eight straight months from March, the latest evidence that the economic recovery continued amid the government's pro-growth measures. The extraordinary sales performance recorded during this year's Singles' Day shopping spree also indicated the huge potential of China's domestic market, as it embraces the "dual circulation" new development pattern.

China has effectively contained the virus and brought production and life back to normal, and the fundamentals sustaining the country's steady and long-term economic growth remain unchanged. China has full confidence and the ability to maintain a stable economic performance.

This confidence is echoed by business circles that find massive opportunities in the country's new development paradigm, as it emphasizes innovation, domestic demand, and the quality of development.

China has a population of 1.4 billion, with a middle-income class of more than 400 million. Its cumulative commodity imports in the next ten years are estimated to exceed 22 trillion U.S. dollars. Such a massive market demand will bring a direct and lasting pull to the recovery of the world economy after the epidemic, thus boosting the global economic cycle.

The path to prosperity does not lie in insularity but in embracing the opportunities of globalization, and it takes joint efforts from every member of the international community.