Lujiazui, a financial zone in Shanghai Photo: VCG

International financial and consulting firms have expressed confidence in the Chinese market and raised their projections for 2023 GDP growth, with many saying that the country's economy will be a boost for global expansion in 2023 after it optimized COVID-19 response.

China's reopening - and the recovery of its domestic demand - could help raise global GDP by 1 percent by the end of 2023, read a Goldman Sachs Research report published on February 10. China's GDP is expected to grow by 6.5 percent in 2023. 

"While we already expected most major economies to avoid recession and China to see a growth rebound from an end to zero-COVID, the more rapid pace of China's reopening since then - along with a waning drag from global financial conditions and lower European gas prices - has prompted us to upgrade our expectations further," said economists of Goldman Sachs Research.

Thanks to the reopening, China may account for half of global GDP growth in 2023, according to an estimate by Natixis SA. 

Banks and international financial organizations have been raising their projections for China's growth in 2023. The IMF, for example, raised China's GDP growth outlook from 2.6 percent in October 2022 to 5.2 percent in January in its World Economic Outlook.

Many foreign analysts and investors see potential in the Chinese market. JPMorgan Chase & Co, for example, sees China as its largest potential overseas market.

"China is by far the biggest opportunity for us. We continue to invest as we did previously, obviously cautiously," Troy Rohrbaugh, head of Global Markets for JPMorgan, told investors at a conference.

China remains an attractive market with a superior industrial cluster and acts as an innovation hub for most multinational companies. Even though it is unlikely for China to replicate past booming decades, its key fundamentals remain robust and unique compared with many other markets, read a report published on February 10 by German Chambers of Commerce Worldwide Network in China and Roland Berger.

A separate report by Roland Berger said that China's exports of industrial goods are likely to play a bigger role in the world in early 2023.

 "In the medium term, China's resilient fundamentals create huge scope for economic recovery. With export growth already slowing and the property market still some time away from recovery, consumption must be a powerful engine driving China's return to growth," read the report.

According to Roland Berger, China has become the world's largest consumer market with the most potential. 

During the pandemic, Chinese consumers accumulated about 3.98 trillion yuan ($580 billion) in excess savings, which are expected to be released in consumption in 2023, according to an estimate by Zheshang Securities Co.

China's economic indicators at the beginning of 2023 showed a strong rebound, compared with European and American markets, which are shadowed by recession and stagflation risks, Chen Jia, an independent analyst on international strategy, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Confidence in China's growth can be seen in the recent inflow of overseas capital and plans by senior executives of leading foreign firms to visit China, said Chen.

Huang Tao, a public relations analyst, echoed Chen in saying that the recent increase in international visits, international flights, the resumption of outbound tourism and the rise in the securities and capital markets all signaled stable growth and strong confidence in China.

Inflows into Chinese stocks rebounded in January to about $17.6 billion, according to statistics from the Institute of International Finance.

As for this year, a recession risk this year has been mentioned by several global organizations, as well as risks in trade, Huang told the Global Times.

"We are in the era of globalization, but in reality, unilateralism and trade protectionism imposed by several countries are restricting the development of the economy, trade and business," said Huang.