Economy making progress despite risks, challenges

China announced the results of its fifth national economic census on Thursday, which was the first one conducted following the global COVID-19 pandemic.

The census revealed that in 2023, China's GDP approached 130 trillion yuan ($17.8 trillion), ranking second in the world. For the past five years, China's contribution to global economic growth averaged around 30 percent, making it the largest source of global economic growth.

Structurally, there are three clear trends in the nation's development. First, there has been a significant increase in the number of service industry operators, which have become an important force in supporting economic growth and promoting high-quality employment. By the end of 2023, the number of employees in the secondary industry was 164 million, a decrease of 8.26 million from the end of 2018, while those in the tertiary industry reached 265 million, an increase of 54.01 million.

At the same time, manufacturing continues to advance, social division of labor becomes more refined, and tasks such as design and testing within the manufacturing sector begin to be outsourced, becoming part of the productive service industry. Additionally, internet-based service industry models have emerged, significantly increasing the demand for services such as ride-hailing, express deliveries, e-commerce, and livestreaming, which have absorbed a large number of workers from the manufacturing sector.

Second, China's manufacturing industry has maintained rapid and high-quality development. By the end of 2023, the total assets of legal manufacturing entities nationwide reached 151 trillion yuan, growing by 41.7 percent, with the growth rate and proportion of high-end industries represented by equipment manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing increasing.

The third trend is that after implementing the innovation-driven strategy, the development momentum has become stronger. Over the five years, the number of invention patent applications filed by industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 65.1 percent, and the number of high-tech service industry enterprises accounted for more than one-fourth of the total number of service industries above designated size.

The census data show that over the past five years, China's economy has maintained a stable yet progressive development trend, withstanding multiple internal and external risks, such as trade frictions and pandemic shocks, which lays a solid foundation for China's next phase of development.

-21st Century Business Herald