Residents enjoy beverages on street benches as Beijing shuts down restaurant dine-in services to contain the COVID-19 outbreak on May 30. Photo: Li Hao/GT

China's dynamic zero-COVID policy is widely expected to safeguard the sustainable growth of the world's second largest economy, as well as the global supply chain.

As China's zero-COVID policy maintains maximum life normalcy resumption and full production in enterprises, China's strong economic pulse is evident. 

In the first quarter of this year, the country achieved a 4.8 percent GDP growth, 0.8 percentage points higher than growth recorded in the fourth quarter of 2021.

China is embracing more promising economic prospects as the country achieved initial success in curbing the latest COVID-19 resurgence. As of mid-May, about half of Shanghai's more than 9,000 major industrial firms had resumed production, according to data from the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Global investment banks are pushing ahead with ambitious expansion plans in Shanghai, the Financial Times reported in April.

As the only major economy to achieve positive growth in 2020, China's economy also exceeded projections by surpassing 110 trillion yuan in 2021, further consolidating its status as a stabilizing force and powerhouse in the global economy. Against this backdrop, China's investment inflow hit a record high in 2021, up 14.9 percent year-on-year. In the first quarter of this year, China's FDI still maintained double-digit growth, up 25.6 percent year-on-year. 

Unswervingly adherence to the "dynamic zero" policy fundamentally strengthens the confidence of long-term investors, observers said.

"The rise of China, and its powerhouse economy, remains by far the most important story of the 21st century," Matthew Lynn, a financial columnist, said in an article published in May, noting that COVID-19 and a few weeks of lockdown in major cities "won't prove its undoing. It is far too strong for that, and has too much momentum behind it."

In the two years since the start of the epidemic, China's economy has maintained positive growth, with an average growth rate of 5.1 percent. In the first quarter of 2022, China's economy continued its steady growth trend, growing by 4.8 percent year-on-year. In the first four months, foreign exchange reserves remained stable at around $3.2 trillion and 4.06 million jobs were also created. Paid-in foreign investment reached $74.47 billion, up 26.1 percent year-on-year. Actual investment from the South Korea, the US, and Germany increased by 76.3, 53.2, and 80.4 percent respectively. China's trade grew 11.1 percent year-on-year in May with export surging by 16.9 percent year-on-year. 

It has been proven that China's "dynamic zero-COVID" policy has created a healthier, safer, and more stable environment for China's development and effectively prevented the transmission of the epidemic to other countries, Zhang Run, Chinese ambassador to Dominica, said in a piece recently published in local media.

 "Over the past two years, China's zero-tolerance policy of lockdowns, mass testing, and strict border quarantines for COVID-19 has prevented a huge number of deaths at home and ensured that everything from iPhones and Teslas to fertilizer and car parts continues to flow to the rest of the world," James Mayger, a columnist of Bloomberg said in a piece titled "Why the World Needs China's Covid-Zero Policy" on February 28.

If consumers and businesses want to continue to buy goods made in China without having to endure shortages and further price hikes, they should want China to stick with its "COVID-zero" policy, said Mayger.

Global Times