Medical staff sit in an electro-tricycle and conduct nucleic acid testing for residents in Zhengzhou, Central China's Henan Province, on January 15, 2022. Zhengzhou will roll out mass testing for residents in eight communities on January 17, amid the latest COVID-19 outbreak. Photo: VCG

China has taken scientific, comprehensive and effective prevention and control measures in combatting COVID-19, and the remarkable results in protecting lives and reviving the economy are there for all to see, China's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday, dismissing foreign claims that the country's dynamic zero-case policy has negative impact on the economy.

Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Friday that China's "zero-COVID policy" is looking increasingly like a "burden" to the economy, putting it "more at risk not [for] only China but also China as a supply source for the rest of the world," according to CNBC.

Asked about the remarks at a regular press briefing on Wednesday, Zhao Lijian, spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry, said that the prevention and control measures China has taken have delivered remarkable results in protecting people's lives and health, reviving China's economic and social development and promoting global economic recovery and anti-epidemic cooperation.

"In 2020, China became the only major economy in the world to achieve positive growth, and in 2021, China achieved a high economic growth rate of 8.1 percent. With a GDP of $17.7 trillion at the annual average exchange rate, China continues to lead the global economic recovery," Zhao said.

He noted that the fundamentals of China's long-term sound economic growth have not changed, China's status as an important engine of global growth has also not changed, and the international community's confidence in the Chinese economy has not changed. 

"We are ready to step up communication and cooperation with all parties to inject impetus into the sustained recovery of the global economy," said Zhao.

The IMF projected a 4.8 percent GDP growth for the Chinese economy in 2022, while global growth is projected to be 4.4 percent, according to the latest World Economic Outlook by IMF released on Tuesday.

That is lower than forecast and estimates made by other institutions and economists. All of the provincial-level regions on the Chinese mainland have set a GDP growths targets of above 5 percent in 2022, prompting analysts to predict that China's national GDP growth in 2022 will be between 5-6 percent.

GDP

Global Times