Illustration:Liu Rui/GT

A Wall Street Journal article on Monday entitled "The Slow Meltdown of the Chinese Economy" stated that "China is experiencing a slow-motion economic crisis." The article is one of the relatively prominent ones published recently in the new wave of US and Western media badmouthing China's economy. However, it is nothing compared to the various versions of the "China collapse theory" in the past. Since the 1990s, the "China collapse theory" and the "China threat theory" have taken turns to dominate Western media. The curses and smears by those anti-China forces in the US and the West have become a unique accompaniment as China's gigantic economy rides the waves.

Also on Monday, the People's Daily published a long article entitled "Looking at the Big Picture as New Year Arrives." The article summarizes China's economic and social development in 2021 and analyzes the country's economic development in 2022. The article provides us with a more authoritative and credible basis for assessing China's economy. More and more facts and figures prove that China's economy will continue to grow stably for a long time. Pessimistic arguments about China's economy are untenable and even with evil intentions.

In terms of growth, China's GDP expanded 9.8 percent year-on-year in the first three quarters of 2021. This figure is clearly higher than the predicted growth rates of the world's other major economies such as the US (5.7 percent), Japan (2.4 percent), and Germany (3.0 percent). The average two-year growth of China's GDP reached 5.2 percent, one of the highest among the world's major economies. Although China's economic growth slowed in the third quarter due to the impact of multiple factors, including the COVID-19 epidemic and floods, the trend has not changed that China enjoys a stable economic recovery. And as some indicators have gradually started to go up again in the fourth quarter, China's economy is expected to achieve a relatively fast growth throughout the year. The latest forecast made by the IMF also suggests that China will see a GDP growth of 8.0 percent in 2021, making China the major economy with one of the greatest economic growth rates.

Some may have noticed that in 2021, China's year-on-year GDP growth rate slowed down quarter by quarter, from 18.3 percent to 7.9 percent to 4.9 percent. There were various reasons behind such a slowdown: the impact of last year's high GDP growth, as well as the external shock of the increased uncertainty of the global economic recovery under the epidemic. But more importantly, GDP growth in China now has a different meaning than it used to after the fundamental principle of high-quality development was established. Instead of focusing on the figures of GDP growth, China is aiming for the authentic values behind those numbers and promoting quality growth with a greater sense of satisfaction, happiness, and security. It is narrow-minded and shallow to ignore such ambitions and judge China's development only by the figures.

From the central government to the local ones, from governments to the public, there has been consensus on promoting high-quality development. Practical actions taken to turn it into a reality can be seen everywhere across China. In terms of innovation, the China's ranking has risen to the 12th, as listed in the 2021 Global Innovation Index Report released by the World Intellectual Property Organization. China has made strides in striving for high technological independence and improvement. From the perspective of ecology, China has built a number of large wind power and photovoltaic bases in its deserts as well as sandy and rocky areas. China has put forward 31 key tasks and clarified the road map for achieving carbon peak and neutrality. Energy consumption per unit of GDP in the first three quarters has dropped by 2.3 percent. It's fair to say the concept of low-carbon development has struck a deep chord in the hearts of the people. 

Since the beginning of the year, the scales of foreign investment and trade have both hit their highest level compared to the same periods in history. Chinese economy has strong resilience, great potential and sufficient driving forces - these characteristics have continued to show up and made China continue to be an important engine for world recovery and world economic growth. 

The Chinese people have never had the illusion that they can make achievements easily. China is well aware that its economy is currently facing a triple pressure of shrinking demand, supply shocks and lowered expectations. The annual Central Economic Work Conference held December 8-10 has set the tone for next year's economic work to prioritize stability and seek progress while maintaining stability. It has also put forward a series of new judgments, new understandings and new arrangements. The Chinese people are convinced that the only thing they can grasp in this ever-changing era is to do their own thing well and seize every opportunity to move forward to even more ambitious goals.

Facts will continue to prove that China's economy is stable and will prosper in the long run. This is one of the greatest certainties in the world today.