Wang Wenbin, spokesperson of Chinese Foreign Ministry. Photo: CFP

China's hard-won GDP growth rate of 4.8 percent in the first quarter this year fully demonstrates con-tinued economic recovery, and unchanged economic fundamentals characterized by resilience, vitality and long-term sustainability, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Tuesday.

China has the capability and conditions to overcome difficulties and challenges to realize sustainable and healthy economic development, Wang said.

In the first quarter, the country's industrial output grew 6.5 percent year-on-year, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday. Retail sales grew 3.3 percent on a yearly basis in the same period, while growth in fixed-asset investment rose 9.3 percent over the first three months of 2022, with investment in infrastructure up 8.5 percent year-on-year.

With major macro-economic indexes within the reasonable range, industrial and agricultural maintaining overall stability and economic structure continuously being optimized, the Chinese economy is showing a continuous recovery trend, Wang said.

He said that the growth rate of 4.8 percent during the first quarter is a hard-won result achieved in a turbulent world, impacted by a complex international environment and multiple Covid flare-ups across the country.

It's worth mentioning that China's imports and exports grew 10.7 percent year-on-year, and the actual use of foreign investment grew 25.6 percent year-on-year. Wang said that double-digit growth of both measurements reflects China's contribution to stabilize global industrial and supply chains in the world. 

Many foreign enterprises have stated their confidence in China's economic prospect. According to recent reports by the German Chamber of Commerce in China and the American Chamber of Commerce in China, 71 percent of Germany-invested companies and over 60 percent of US companies plan to increase investment in China.

In the first quarter of the year, foreign investment in China's high-tech industry grew 50 percent year-on-year, of which high-tech services sector posting growth of nearly 60 percent. Wang said that all of these fully embodies that "investing in China is investing for the future."

Facts have proved and will continue to prove that China, with a comprehensive industrial system, enormous market size, dividends brought about by reform and opening-up and strong capability in economic management, will effectively deal with risks and challenges to realize healthy and sustainable economic development and to inject more energy to world economic recovery, Wang said.

Global Times