Illustration: Tang Tengfei/Global Times

Shortly after China witnessed a better-than-expected economic recovery during the just-concluded Spring Festival holidays, top policymakers have moved swiftly to signal that they will ramp up efforts to not only boost growth this year but also ensure high-quality development in the long run.

A series of recent high-level meetings and reform measures indicate priority will be given to domestic consumption, technological self-reliance, financial reforms and other areas. This offers a fresh boost for domestic and global confidence in China's economic outlook.

A State Council executive meeting chaired by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on January 28, the first working day after the week-long Spring Festival holidays, required sustained efforts to promote the steady rebound of economic operations, accelerate consumption recovery and stabilize foreign trade and investment at the beginning of the year. 

As the country eyes expediting the establishment of a new pattern of development, the central government has rolled out a series of policies focusing on technological innovation, financial reform, tax relief and other fields. For instance, Chinese regulators announced on Wednesday plans to expand the registration-based IPO system across the A-share market, in an effort to ratchet up the ratio of direct financing in the Chinese market to meet the needs of economic development. 

Since the beginning of 2023, the Chinese government has intensively released a series of plans, policies, and top-down initiatives to ensure stability in economic growth along the path of high-quality development. 

After a short, sharp shock of the Omicron infections in the past one month or two, a national mobilization to develop the economy has sent a clear signal that the country is in a full-speed sprint to develop the economy in 2023 and will maintain the speed for the rest of the year.

According to official data, China's economy grew by 2.9 percent in the last quarter of 2022, bringing the full-year growth rate to 3 percent. Under repeated shocks of extreme pressure from multiple factors, China's economic performance has exceeded market expectations, marking a hard-won achievement. 

Kang Yi, head of the National Bureau of Statistics, said at a press conference on January 17 that China's economy will definitely improve overall in 2023. It means economic vitality will be unleashed more quickly, consumption may see a "retaliatory rebound," and the Chinese economy will grow at a faster pace this year.

We have sufficient reasons to remain confident in the Chinese economy, taking into consideration of the inherent resilience of the Chinese economy, as well as a series of policies that aim to stabilize the economy pushed forward by the government in a timely manner. "Intrinsic resilience" and "governance capability" are the two most critical factors providing an impetus to the economy.

Contrary to the steady recovery of China's economy, the world economic prospect is grim and the risk of recession is accumulating. It is expected that 2023 will be weaker than 2022. While raising its 2023 global growth outlook to 2.9 percent from 2.7 percent in its latest update to the biannual World Economic Outlook, the IMF said on Tuesday that China and India will account for half of global economic growth this year versus just one-tenth for the US and the euro-zone combined. The engine of global growth in 2023 will be in Asia, which means that how the global economy can make good use of China's growth opportunities will be the key. 

If leaders of countries across the world continue to let geopolitics hijack global cooperation, the world will miss more development opportunities. The world's second largest economy accounts for 18.5 percent of the world total. Such a large-scale economy will play a key role for the stability of the world economy.

China is ramping up efforts to build up domestic economic strength and to promote opening-up in all aspects. It is expected to become a stabilizer of world economic development in 2023. 

China has the world's most complete industrial system and the largest market of potential domestic demands. Its manufacturing industry accounts for 30 percent of the world's total. In 2022, China overcame the difficulties of the COVID-19 epidemic and the "decoupling" attempt by the US, making important contributions to ensuring the stability and smoothness of the global industrial chain and supply chain. In 2023, all countries across the world have the opportunity to share the fruits of China's economic recovery. It is advised that such a rare opportunity should not be wasted due to undesirable unilateralism and geopolitics.