Illustration: Chen Xia/GT

China's GDP grew by 7.9 percent in the second quarter of 2021, and expanded 12.7 percent in the first half of the year, according to data the National Bureau of Statistics released on Thursday. The data also shows the country's average two-year GDP growth was 5.3 percent. From the perspective of tendency, the average two-year growth of the year-on-year GDP growth for the first quarter was 5.0 percent, and 5.5 percent for the second quarter. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, GDP growth of the first quarter was 0.6 percent, and 1.3 percent for the second quarter. These figures reflect the steady growth of China's economy, and its prospects are promising.

China's remarkable GDP figures gained unprecedented attention in the past two years. An important factor behind such an achievement is the China-US strategic competition highlighted by Washington. The US has engaged in all-round suppression against China, forming a momentum in which the US leads its allies and part of the Western world to contain China. 

However, China's core competitiveness, also something that Washington fears most, is its robust development. As long as China's development dynamic remains undiminished, the US suppression will turn out be a failure. 

China's H1 foreign trade data is eye-catching, with a year-on-year increase of 27.1 percent, or 22.8 percent when compared with 2019. The H1 GDP released on Thursday has further demonstrated the panoramic view of China's stable and rapid development. China has clearly told the world that a global crisis like COVID-19 pandemic cannot stop it, and that the US crackdown on China has gained far less than Washington had expected.

Chinese society has realized that China's relations with the US cannot return to old times and its resistance to US containment will be long-term. In addition to keeping political unity, strengthening China's economic capacity and increasing comprehensive national strength is the key to blow US arrogance and its will to confront China.

The US is worried that China's GDP will one day surpass its own. So Washington has taken the strategy of "decoupling" with China - it wants to bring losses to China even at the cost of its own interests. 

The brilliance of China is that it does not aim at surpassing the US. Instead, China eyes on solving practical problems and is working hard to promote social equality and the sound development of economy to increase resistance to risks and capabilities of development. Overtaking the US in terms of GDP will be a natural byproduct.

The struggles over the years have proven that the US cannot do much about China. It failed in messing up the minds of Chinese society. Instead, China's political cohesion has grown significantly. The US cannot check the rapid growth of the Chinese economy either. 

Judging from the situation of the first half of 2021, one can be sure China's GDP will definitely grow faster than that of the US. And if data from 2021 are included, the growth rate gap between China and the US in the past two years will be even wider than in this year.

It has been over three years since former US president Donald Trump launched a trade war against China, and until now, there is no evidence to show that the US has successfully suppressed China's development. The US is losing quarter by quarter. It is at its wits' end.

Washington needs to understand that China's achievements came after the country cracked down on corruption, strengthened green development, and promoted social equality. China's development today has shown very strong sustainability. 

China's GDP contains many elements that fit the people's aspirations. Its value is completely different from the improvement of the US political and social quality. The growth of the US is full of bubbles, and it is realized by indiscriminately printing money with no regard to people's livelihood.

Of course, we can't compare with the US on the question of which country is worse. We should constantly surpass ourselves. When we introspect, we will find out that many urgent problems need to be seriously dealt with. We have had great control over the COVID-19 epidemic, but there is still room for us to transform it into economic growth. We should keep avoiding the influence of bureaucracy in local economic activities. Moreover, some private enterprises are not very active in investment, and people's livelihood still needs to be improved. We should put more efforts into solving these actual problems to make China's economy grow even further.

What China needs to do is to upset those "containment freaks" in the US from quarter to quarter. They will feel frustrated and disappointed in their acts of slandering China. Therefore, all of China's previous achievements belong to the past. We must continue to do well for the next quarter and the next year, and we must strive to do better.