China's steady economic recovery boosts global expectations for future growth

BEIJING - A string of recently released economic data has once again attested to the resilience of the Chinese economy, which has gathered momentum to achieve a steady recovery.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics on Friday showed that for all the shocks and headwinds China has encountered recently, especially during the second quarter, the GDP of the world's second-largest economy nonetheless expanded 2.5 percent in the first half of this year, with the second quarter achieving a positive growth of 0.4 percent.

Economists and observers worldwide have argued that China remains one of the world's most reliable growth engines with its solid economic foundation and resilience.

Growth despite downward pressures

With the mounting headwinds like COVID-19 resurgences and rampant inflation, many major economies have been caught off guard. The US consumer price index (CPI) in June marked the largest 12-month increase since November 1981, and inflation for the eurozone hit a record high of 8.6 percent in the year to June. Many experts warned that both economies are "increasingly likely" to slide into recession.

Yet in the face of those downward pressures, China's economy still showed strong resilience and great potential, and has largely kept its consumer prices stable. China's factory-gate inflation has eased for the sixth straight month, and its major economic indicators bounced back in June.

As an open economy, China gains much of its economic strength from foreign trade. Data from the General Administration of Customs showed that foreign trade growth accelerated to 14.3 percent in June. From January to June, China's foreign goods trade jumped 9.4 percent year-on-year to 19.8 trillion yuan ($2.94 trillion).

Temporary shocks due to resurgences of the COVID-19 pandemic inflicted pain upon the country's economy earlier this year when China enforced a dynamic zero-COVID approach to contain the virus and save lives.

"China has adopted an effective approach to combat the epidemic," said Wolfram Elsner, a professor of economics at the University of Bremen in Germany, adding "this is illustrated by the recent rapid growth in the economic figures." China has been able to implement resolute anti-COVID measures "followed by a rapid push to resume work and production," he said.

As consumer spending has gradually warmed up, China's vast domestic market has played a vital role in helping cushion the effects of any downward pressure.