Editor's Note: China's economy has shown strong resilience in 2024, which draws near to its end. In the face of a more complex and challenging international geopolitical environment, the policymakers have reached a consensus that is persistently pushing forward high-quality development of Chinese economy, by upgrading its industrial structure, invigorating innovation and fostering new quality productive forces. The Global Times is launching a new series, expounding China's economic fundamentals and growth potential, and its contribution to the global economy. This is the second installment in the series.

Foster new quality productive forces Graphic Analysis: GT

The second China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) is being held in Beijing from Tuesday through Saturday. As the world's first national-level exhibition themed on supply chains, the expo is conducive to supporting global supply chain integration. Foreign exhibitors account for 32 percent of the total participants, higher than last year's 26 percent, led by companies from the US, Europe and Japan. The expanding attendance is a manifestation that foreign companies continue to be optimistic about the Chinese market, as China remains the favored supply chain partner.

The G20 Leaders' Summit was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, under the motto "Building a Just World and a Sustainable Planet." At the summit, China elaborated on its policies and proposals regarding world peace and development, demonstrating China's strong commitment to multilateralism, an open world economy and sustainable development, and promoting the building of economic globalization that benefits all. After the G20 Summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a state visit to Brazil. The two countries decided to elevate their ties to the community with a shared future for a more just world and a more sustainable planet. Brazil, the first Latin American country to establish a comprehensive strategic partnership with China, expressed willingness to promote the common development and prosperity for Brazil, Latin America and China.

Chancay Port is not only an important project under Belt and Road cooperation, but also the first smart port in South America.

Since the establishment of APEC, Asia-Pacific regional cooperation has accelerated the region's development and positioned the region as a center of global economic growth. Moreover, China has emerged as a pivotal force in promoting high-quality, sustainable regional and global development.

Editor's Note: The 7th China International Import Expo (CIIE) opened in Shanghai this Tuesday. As the world's first national level import-themed expo, it has successfully been held six times. Building on the historical highs in intended transaction volume and exhibitor numbers from previous editions, this year's expo will further enhance its important role in promoting international trade, providing the world with China's experience in high-standard opening-up. Hosting the CIIE is an important step for China to further open up and a concrete action China took to build an open world economy. The numbers of exhibitors showcase the appeal of China's mega-sized market, speak volumes about the strong confidence of the international community in China's economic outlook, and demonstrate the common aspiration of all sides for win-win result through open cooperation.

estrictions on foreign investment in the manufacturing sector will be lifted starting from November 1. This move is just a latest example demonstrating China's continuous efforts to boost high-quality opening-up and attract foreign investment. At the same time, China remains a core market for global businesses for its vast market potential and steady economic development. Following the implementation of supportive measures and the launch of targeted exhibitions, global businesses are able to reap more benefits from China's fast-growing market.

From Tuesday to Thursday, the 16th BRICS Summit was held in Kazan, Russia. It is also the group's first gathering since its expansion. As a leading voice of emerging markets and developing countries, BRICS has been committed to upholding multilateralism and becoming a positive, stabilizing and benevolent force in international affairs. The historic expansion of the BRICS membership has injected new impetus into a multi-polar world, economic globalization and democracy in international relations. The BRICS cooperation mechanism has strongly promoted solidarity and cooperation among countries in the Global South.

Recently, Chinese government has launched a series of policy measures, providing a strong boost to stabilize and develop the economy. Multiple figures have proven that the Chinese government not only has the methods and strength to stabilize the country's economy, in the current context of an increasingly complex environment, it is also well-prepared and will take all necessary fiscal and monetary measures to stabilize and promote the economy.

October 1, 2024 marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Over the past 75 years, under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China, the country has made remarkable progress in social and economic development. From a once backward agrarian society, China has transformed itself into the world's second-largest economy, increasingly interconnected with the global economy and offering significant opportunities to the rest of the world. To highlight this, the Global Times is launching a series of articles. This graphic depicts the country's booming development in infrastructure and technology through the changes in a parcel's journey, which was delivered via postman's bikes in the 1950s but now can be transported through drones.

The 2024 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) will be held from Thursday to Monday in Beijing. It will serve as an important platform for deepening international cooperation, injecting new impetus into global economic development. In the face of an increasingly complex international trade environment and rising protectionism and unilateralism, it is of greater significance for China to promote high-quality development of trade in services through high-level opening-up. The CIFTIS, successfully held for 10 sessions, became a window to showcase China's opening-up and share development opportunities with the world, while promoting the development of the global services industry and services trade.

Editor's Note: The 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) is being held in Beijing from September 4 to 6. During the forum, China and Africa will renew their friendship and discuss plans for further pragmatic cooperation. Green, coordinated, and sustainable industrialization is a crucial path for Africa's economic development and poverty alleviation, and it is a key driver for the continent to achieve modernization and sustainable development. The pursuit of modernization is a shared goal for both China and African countries.

The 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will be held in Beijing from September 4 to 6. During the forum, China and Africa will renew their friendship and discuss plans for further pragmatic cooperation. China and Africa enjoy a strong traditional friendship and sound cooperative relations, which have withstood the test of time and changes in the international landscape. China-Africa cooperation has yielded strong results and benefited the people, making it a model of international cooperation. Under such mechanisms as the Belt and Road Initiative and the FOCAC, China and Africa have increasingly engaged in exchanges of new technologies, new energy and new industries, which will open up new space and inject new impetus into bilateral cooperation. China has always been a staunch supporter of Africa's exploration of new paths to modernization.

Editor's Note: China will relax restrictions on foreign investment further by completely abolishing entry barriers in the manufacturing sector, while accelerating the opening-up of sectors such as telecommunication, education and healthcare services, according to a document approved on Monday at an executive meeting of the State Council, presided over by Chinese Premier Li Qiang.

China and Vietnam strengthen economic ties: -Bilateral trade in the first 7 months of 2024 increased by 25% y-o-y -Chinese investment in Vietnam increased more than seven-fold over the past decade -6,850 TEU containers of goods were shipped via China-Vietnam freight trains in the first 7 months of 2024 Check out the graphic to learn more:

China on Sunday unveiled a groundbreaking guideline for accelerating a comprehensive green transition in all economic and social sectors, which is the central government's first systematic deployment of its green and low-carbon goals. While actively advancing the country's domestic green transition with enhanced policy support and fast-developing technologies, China's steadfast efforts in bolstering clean energy and fostering global cooperation have emerged as a significant drive to propel the global development of green transformation.

China recently released guidelines on boosting the high-quality development of service consumption to unleash consumption potential. More efforts will be made to foster and boost new sports-related spending integrated with tourism and other industries. With the rising popularity of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, some "niche" sports have also attracted public attention, which makes sports industry cultivation easier. Meanwhile, the integration of sports and tourism has become a new consumption growth force. Sports-related consumption is an important part of service consumption, which has become a major force of economic growth. The development of the sports industry and the integration of multiple service industries will continue to foster new growth engines.

Editor's Note: Geopolitical and trade tensions have been running high in the world in recent years. Some Western countries, led by the US, are pursuing the so-called “de-risking” or “de-coupling” policy, by diversifying away from China's market in order to stymie China's economic development. After the third plenary session of the 20th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee concluded in Beijing, a US business delegation consisting of top executives from the US visited China. It signals that many US enterprises, affected by the ups and downs of China-US relations in the past years, now aspire to improve business ties with their Chinese counterparts, which will also help the steady progress of China-US relations.

The Olympic Games Paris 2024 will kick off on July 26, 2024 in France. China has decided to send 405 athletes to the Games participating in 236 events across 30 sports. While Chinese athletes are set to be in the spotlight at the competitions, a wide range of “Made in China” products equipped with advanced technologies from competition facilities to souvenirs have already been gaining the global attention. The highly favored Chinese products demonstrate the country's vitality and strengths as the world's manufacturing powerhouse. The popularity of Chinese commodities at the Summer Olympics, along with the passion of Chinese tourists traveling to Europe for the season, have consistently proved that China and Europe cannot easily be “decoupled.”

Editor's Note: In the height of summer, the eyes of the world are focused on Beijing, as the third plenary session of the 20th Communist Party of China Central Committee is being convened to draw up the next blueprint for China's economic development, among other key topics.

#GTGraphic: China's economic data for H1 2024: -GDP: 61.68 trillion yuan, up 5% y-o-y -Value-added industrial out put: up 6% y-o-y -Total retail sales of consumer goods: 23.6 trillion yuan, up 3.7% y-o-y

Amid the ongoing UEFA European Championships and ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, production and sales of sport-related products continue to grow at factories and shops in Yiwu, a county-level city in East China's Zhejiang Province. Yiwu is one of China's small towns that have become key nodes in the country's manufacturing chain. Most of these towns started with low-end manufacturing and gradually built up modern industrial clusters. The development of these small towns, an epitome of China's industrial development, has empowered China to remain the world's largest manufacturing hub for 14 consecutive years. Now, the towns continue to be driving forces for China's manufacturing transformation - from "Made in China" to "intelligent manufacturing."

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit will be held in Kazakhstan in July. The SCO has evolved from the original "Shanghai Five" to nine member states, three observer states, and 14 dialogue partners, and SCO member states now account for nearly half of the world's population and about one-quarter of the global GDP. The SCO has become an indispensable engine contributing to the regional as well as global development, while the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has turbocharged the organization's development. Moving forward, China stands ready to work with SCO partners to advocate a multipolar world with equality and order and inclusive economic globalization, promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind and create a better future together.

The European Commission (EC) announced on June 12 that it will impose additional provisional tariffs on electric vehicles (EVs) from China starting July 4. The strong opposition by all groups showed once again that the EC's decision is not based on the needs of its automotive industry and has not much to claim in terms of protecting the EU industry. The intended tariffs will also potentially apply to global brand vehicles manufactured in China, as the tariffs target cars imported from China. A large part of China's EVs exported to Europe were originally produced in China by European and US car companies before being reexported to Europe. Protectionist measures will fuel inflation and delay the process of green transformation, during which China's new-energy capacity is urgently needed. The EU's behavior of following in the US' footsteps to impose tariffs on Chinese EVs will be a "boomerang" that only harms the EU's auto industries and its customers.

Editor's Note: Holiday spending is an important window to measure the vitality of China's economy. From the Qingming Festival, May Day holidays to the recent Dragon Boat Festival, a range of positive data have boosted confidence in the country's economic prospects this year, as consumer spending continues to recover.

The ninth Trilateral Summit Meeting among China, Japan and the South Korea concluded on Monday in Seoul, where senior officials from the three East Asian countries exchanged views on trilateral cooperation. According to the Joint Declaration of the 9th China-Japan-South Korea Trilateral Summit, the three countries agreed to institutionalize the trilateral cooperation, commence trilateral cooperation projects for peoples of the three countries, and defend regional and international peace and prosperity. 2024 marks the 25th anniversary of China-Japan-South Korea trilateral cooperation mechanism. Analysts noted that the resumption of the trilateral summit has sent a positive signal over their willingness to work together, boosting economic and trade, as well as cultural and people-to-people exchanges among the three countries.

Editor's Note: With the recent recovery of the international tourism market and the resumption of more international routes, the visa-free policy between China and other countries has spurred enthusiasm of foreign tourists to travel to China.

China has become an important force in stabilizing the global clean energy industrial and supply chains. In recent years, China's new energy industry has developed vigorously, and products such as new-energy vehicles, lithium batteries and photovoltaic (PV) products have formed a certain international competitive advantage. In the latest move, the Biden administration on Tuesday announced new tariff rates on imported Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), up from current 25 percent to 100 percent. The US' intention is to curb and suppress China's new energy sector, which represents low-carbon transformation and future development.

China's production and sales of new-energy vehicles (NEVs), having been ranked No.1 in the world for nine consecutive years, have accelerated the transformation of the global automobile industry. The development of China's NEV industry has benefited from its sound industrial chain and supply chain system, large market scale, huge investment in innovation and openness to global companies. The world will need 45 million NEVs by 2030, over three times that of the demand of 2023, to realize carbon neutrality. The US knows fully well that the "overcapacity" fallacy is against common sense of economics and industry facts, yet it still labels China with it. Such a claim is a crafted narrative designed to manipulate perception and politicize trade. The real purpose is to deprive China of its legitimate right to development. There isn't a "China overcapacity," but there is a US overcapacity of anxiety stemming from lack of confidence and smears against China.

#GTGraphic: Tourism and spending during #China's May Day Holidays: -Domestic tourist trips: 295 mln, up 7.6% y-o-y and 28.2% from 2019 -Cross-regional trips: 1.36 bln, up 24.1% from 2019 -Inbound and outbound trips: 8.466 mln, an increase of 35.1% y-o-y

Editor's Note: As China's actual use of foreign investment fell year-on-year in 2023, short sellers took the opportunity to speculate on the “massive withdrawal of foreign capital from China,” alleging that the country is “uninvestable,” ignoring China's previous year's record high base and the reality of a global downturn in cross-border investment. Is foreign capital really flowing out of China? Obviously not. Chinese market “uninvestable” narrative and other smears targeting the Chinese economy ignore the strong resilience of the country's economic fundamentals, and the selective blindness of the Western media is just another attempt to discredit China's development achievements and momentum.

The West is downplaying China's economic growth by narrowly focusing on short-term data fluctuations. Despite China's consumption gradually recovering and once again becoming a major driver of its economic development, claims including that “China's economic recovery is losing momentum" and “China's economy has entered a vicious cycle of price decline and consumption reduction" are pushed as a deliberate form of distortion. With a population of more than 1.4 billion and the world's largest middle-income group, China maintains its status as the world's second-largest consumer goods market, the top manufacturing country and the leading nation in goods trade. Such a robust market foundation has proven the “China's vanishing consumption momentum” is a clear misinterpretation and borders on wild conjecture.

Some Western forces have been hyping the “China peak” theory using different rhetorical approaches despite the fact that their previous bearish views about China's economy are always proved wrong. As facts always speak louder than words, the Global Times is publishing a series of graphics to debunk the flawed Western narrative. This is the first one of the series targeting the claim that a slowdown in economic growth suggests that a "peak" has been passed. The West's claims that the miracle of high-speed growth of the Chinese economy brought about by special domestic and international opportunities is unsustainable, and that China will slide into a period of stagnation. Such hype just narrowly focuses on temporary declining metrics while neglecting the underlying strong momentum and vast opportunities presented in the world's second-largest economy, as skeptics will only miss out on sharing the dividends of China's economic advancement.

From the China Development Forum (CDF) to the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), China has hosted two major events within a week, capturing global attention. From the influx of foreign companies to the BFA, the world is shifting its focus toward Asia, and particularly China. The Chinese economy is consolidating its institutional, market, industrial, human resources, and innovation advantages. Its fundamentally positive outlook remains unchanged. China is committed to creating a market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized business environment and is sharing development opportunities with other countries.

Editor's Note: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, at the invitation of New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters and Australia's Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong, paid an official visit to New Zealand and Australia from March 17 to 21.

New quality productive forces became a focal point during the just-concluded two sessions, as the term has been included in the Government Work Report for the first time in 2024. The concept of new quality productive forces is poised to inject more vitality to China's economic progress, while contributing to the global development with the country's industrial prowess.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang delivered the Government Work Report on Tuesday, reviewing China's achievements in 2023 and setting targets for 2024. In 2023, China faced an array of interwoven difficulties and challenges. But the main goals and tasks for economic and social development in 2023 were accomplished, with steady progress in pursuing high-quality development. While recognizing the achievements, China is keenly aware of problems and challenges that confront in 2024, of which the development environment will continue to feature both opportunities and challenges, with favorable conditions outweighing unfavorable ones. China will adhere to the principles of pursuing progress while ensuring stability, promoting stability through progress, and establishing the new before abolishing the old. There is no doubt that in pursuing development, China will continue to surge ahead, cleave mighty waves, and advance toward a great future.

#GTGraphic: What is new quality productive forces? By underscoring this concept, China aims to foster advanced productivity through revolutionary technology breakthroughs, innovative allocation of production factors and deepened industrial upgrading.

Editor's Note: At the beginning of 2024, a number of multinational companies have released their financial reports, announcing their performance in the Chinese market and affirming the importance of the Chinese market in their global business map. While some Western organizations and media are using all possible tactics to discredit China's economy, the global business community is converging on China, busy creating opportunities for cooperation and capturing market opportunities.

Holiday travel and spending during the Spring Festival break (February 10-17) hit record highs, surpassing pre-pandemic levels seen in 2019, showing that recovery in China's domestic consumption is picking up pace. The improved sentiment among Chinese consumers demonstrates the vitality and huge potential of China's consumer market, the single largest driver of economic growth, which will brighten the economic outlook in 2024 and beyond. The tourism and consumption boom also points to the new direction of ongoing economic structural transformation and upgrade.

As the Spring Festival holidays are right around the corner, bustling Chinese markets are filled with consumers stocking up on holiday goodies ahead of the Year of Dragon. Amid China's continuous high-quality opening-up and consumption revival, Chinese consumers now can easily enjoy a wide range of global delicacies integrating with traditional Chinese food for gatherings, further perking up the holiday spirit.

The 40-day 2024 Spring Festival travel rush begins on January 26. China is expected to witness a record-high 9 billion passenger trips during the Chinese New Year's festive period. Check out the graphics for more insights!

The Chunyun or Spring Festival travel rush in 2024, the world's largest annual human migration, will run from Friday to March 5 for 40 days, with nine billion passenger trips expected to be made, marking a new historical high. China's consumption in 2023 played a vital role in bolstering the country's economic development, as final consumption contributed 82.5 percent of the total GDP growth. The strong momentum is expected to last in 2024, with the foreseeable booming Chinese New Year holidays poised for a steady recovery.

China released its annual economic results on Wednesday, reporting GDP growth of 5.2 percent, which fulfils its national target. The country's economic performance in 2023 can be summarized as a hard-won positive recovery. Chinese economy is making steady progress and will continue to provide strong impetus for the world economy. China remains an important engine for global economic growth. Over the years, its contribution to world economic growth has stayed at around 30 percent. As the second largest economy in the world, China has established solid fundamentals after years of development, which has enabled its economy to handle ups and downs. Experts believe this overall trend of long-term growth will not change.

Editor's Note: The first days of 2024 saw a surprise tourism peak, as many attractions in northern China were packed with crowds of visitors. Harbin, the capital city of Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, has become the latest social media sensation, with its exquisite ice sculptures and fairy-tale snowy world. Momentum arising in the tourism sector in early 2024 will likely boost the country's travel market, and shore up the broad consumption rebounding this year.

Ice-snow-related economy has developed into an engine driving #China's tourism and sports industry. -During the 2024 New Year's Day holidays, the popularity of domestic ice and snow tourism increased by 216% compared to the previous period -Chongli, one of the venues of the #Beijing2022 #OlympicWinterGames, received 1.6487 million visitors from Nov 8 to Dec 31, 2023 -The number of visitors travelling to Harbin is 5 times that of Sanya during 2024 New Year's Day holidays -The total output value of China's ice-snow sector is forecast to hit 1 trillion yuan by 2025

Editor's Note: The new year of 2024 is rapidly approaching, which marks the beginning of the second decade of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). During the past 10 years, the BRI has turned from a visionary idea into actual infrastructure build-up, evolving to be the largest international cooperation platform for inclusive growth. Standing at the important junction of the BRI's 10th anniversary and looking forward, the BRI is set to scale new heights and gain new momentum of development in all participating countries.

China's manufacturing activity expanded at the fastest pace in more than one decade and the country remained the world's largest manufacturer due to its well-developed business ecosystem - a strong network of suppliers, manufacturers, and logistics companies. Now, the country is making great efforts to achieve industrial upgrade - through technological innovation - to further empower its economic development and better secure global supply chains. China's efficient supply chains are deeply rooted in its manufacturing ecosystem and remain unmatched in their resilience. This strength has made China a key hub across global supply chains, connecting developing countries with raw material suppliers and developed countries with technological and branding resources.

Editor's Note: As 2023 draws to its end, China's economy is again in the spotlight. Despite global geopolitical turbulences, the world's second largest economy has been largely resilient, overcoming some severe challenges and attaining impressive growth rates in GDP this year. The Chinese economy has continued to gain momentum, contributing up to one-third of the world's economic growth in 2023, and will remain one of the most dynamic engines of the global growth in 2024.

The 24th China-EU Summit will be held in Beijing on Thursday. Leaders from the two sides will hold an in-depth exchange of views on strategic issues critical to the future direction of China-EU relations and global issues of mutual interest to draw a blueprint for, identify the focus of and inject impetus to China-EU relations. At present, the complex international situation, unseen in one century, is evolving at an accelerated pace marked by increased volatility, sluggish world economy and emerging global challenges. The China-EU relationship is also facing new opportunities and challenges. China and the EU are partners, not rivals, and areas of common interests far exceed differences. China hopes that the two sides can work together to address global challenges, inject new impetus to the global economy, increase stability in international situation and provide strategic guidance for the sustained and sound development of China-EU relations.

Editor's Note: China is currently holding the world's first supply chain-themed exposition - China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) - from Tuesday to Saturday in Beijing. Hosting the expo displays the country's determination to exemplify the importance of maintaining a highly efficient and resilient global industrial chain and supply chain, which also illustrates China's resolve to stick to opening-up, while fight back against the so-called decoupling attempt by some countries.

Chinese President visited San Francisco last week at the invitation of US President for the China-US Summit and the annual APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting. The visit is of great significance, producing fruitful outcomes. It was an important opportunity for the two nations to build up trust, resolve misgivings, manage differences and expand cooperation in many domains. The summit will also bring enhanced certainty and stability to the world going through turmoil and volatility. The San Francisco meeting can be a new starting point for stabilizing China-US relations, as both countries need to make renewed efforts to translate the new vision into reality so that they realize sound, steady and sustained growth in bilateral relations.

Against the backdrop of sluggish economic recovery and geopolitical volatility in the world, the broad Asia-Pacific region has always been a driving force for economic growth. Meetings of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), which started this week in San Francisco, have drawn global attention. During the past many years, China has been actively integrating itself into Asia-Pacific economic cooperation and contributing to regional stability. The international community hopes that China-US relations can get back on a track of sound and steady development in order to inject stability and certainty into global growth.

Editor's Note: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will visit China from November 4 to 7, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced. This is Albanese's first visit to China since coming to power and the first visit by an Australian prime minister since 2016. Albanese said his visit to China is an important step in ensuring a stable and productive bilateral relationship. China stands ready to work with Australia to step up high-level exchanges, enhance cooperation and exchanges across the fields, promote continued improvement and growth of bilateral relations, and bring more benefits to the peoples of the two countries, said Mao Ning, spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry.

The recently concluded third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF), which gathered representatives from 151 countries and 41 international organizations, has achieved fruitful results and marks another important milestone in the building of the Belt and Road. As 2023 marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the cooperation has realized historic achievements in the past decade, which opened up a road of cooperation, opportunity and prosperity leading to common development.

Editor's Note: From the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway, the first electrified railway in East Africa, to the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway, from the China-Laos Railway to the Jakarta-Bandung High-speed Railway in Southeast Asia, together with the China-Europe Railway Express, these all show that connectivity is a priority in building the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Over the past decade, under the BRI connectivity framework, infrastructure projects have helped participating countries realize their dream for shared prosperity.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was proposed by China in 2013 to build trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa on and beyond the ancient Silk Road trade routes. Since its launch 10 years ago, thanks to the combined efforts of all parties, cooperation under the BRI framework has expanded beyond the borders of China to become an international effort. It has evolved from ideas into actions, from a vision into reality, and from a general framework into concrete projects. China released a white paper, named "The Belt and Road Initiative: A Key Pillar of the Global Community of Shared Future," highlighting the role that the iconic "century project" has played during the last decade and its achievements in living up to its goal of providing a platform for building a global community with a shared future.

After US President Joe Biden recently called China's economic problems a "ticking time bomb," Western media immediately set off a wave of negative public sentiment over China's economy. However, is China's economy as troubled as Western media and politicians have portrayed it to be? What will happen to the rest of the world if China stagnates? In fact, China's economic miracle has been driving global growth for decades. China has made great contributions to reshape the world market. In the West's swing toward anti-globalization, China actively participates in and promotes the implementation of multilateral cooperation. China remains the major engine of global growth, and the world is also full of confidence in China's growth.

#GTGraphic: China's digital trade has developed vigorously in recent years, with its total imports and exports of digital services growing 3.2% y-o-y in 2022 to reach $371.08 billion, providing a pool of business opportunities and injected strong impetus into open trade.

The international community is frustrated and outraged, voicing growing concerns over Japan's utterly irresponsible dumping of Fukushima nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the Pacific Ocean, which started on August 24. Japan is playing with fire, imperiling the world's oceans and endangering an indispensable living environment of future generations of humanity. All residents on this globe are duty-bound to continue to ratchet up opposition to Japan till Tokyo stops wastewater discharge.

#GTGraphic: China's trade with other #BRICS countries saw rapid expansion in the first 7 months of 2023: -Total trade: $330.62 billion, up 19.1% -Import and export of China's private enterprises: up 29.4% -Exports of NEVs: up 601.3% -Imports of energy products: up 17.3%

The US government has comprehensively upgraded its strategy of scientific and technological containment against China. It labeled China as a "strategic competitor" in 2017. The US' determination to fully "decouple" from China in key technological areas is enduring. The reality is the continuation of history. The US' scientific and technological containment of China has occurred across a seven-decade period. The history of China's scientific and technological development has evolved in response to the historical picture of the "choke" of the US and the West. At present, China's scientific and technological forces are more pragmatic in cooperating with friendly countries and regions, overcoming those who view China as a "threat," so as to ensure global cooperation. The US is seeking to disrupt the global order across trade, different industries and various supply chains. The negative impact has already hit US companies and its allies.

China's private investment in H1 2023 - Overall (except real estate): ↑9.4% - Manufacturing: ↑8.4% - Infrastructure: ↑15.6% Foreign trade of private enterprises: ↑8.9% Private companies account for: -65% of patents -75%+ of technological innovation -80%+ new product R&D

China's GDP expanded 5.5 percent in the first half of the year, faster than the 3 percent growth rate in 2022 and the average annual growth rate of 4.5 percent during the past three years of the pandemic. Even taking into account the situation in the second quarter which some media hyped as “lower-than-expected,” China's overall economic growth in the first half of the year is still the fastest among major economies, providing key support for global economic recovery.

The third China and Africa Economic and Trade Expo (CAETE) was held from June 29 to July 2 in Central China's Hunan Province. Held biennially, the CAETE brought together exhibitors from many countries and industries in its last two sessions. The event has been proved to be one of the most important economic and trade exchanges between China and African countries. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Over the last decade, China and Africa have continuously deepened cooperation under the BRI and other mechanisms and platforms, with fruitful results attained in a wide range of sectors, including in trade and economic growth, infrastructure buildup, and raising people's livelihoods. The building of a China-Africa community of shared future in the new era has made significant progress.

Many foreign executives have visited China and more are coming, and the number of foreign investment projects is still increasing, at a time when the global economic recovery turns out to be weak and more countries have given top priority to development. In this context, China's large market and the great opportunities it surely offers have attracted widespread attention and strong expectations from the international community. Foreign investors on the hunt for growth potential do not need to look too far for the "next China" because the "next China" is still China, a senior McKinsey & Company executive claimed in February. The country's market is considered a safe haven for global capital and finance, as well as the best choice for investment. The Chinese economy is believed to be a powerful propeller and anchor for global economic recovery.

China's robust consumption during 2023 Dragon Boat Festival holidays: -Tourism trips: 106m, up 32.3% y-o-y -Tourism income: 37.31b yuan ($5.2b), up 44.5% y-o-y -Passenger trips: 140m, up 89.1% y-o-y -Box office: 848m, second highest

After engaging in a protracted political showdown on raising the US national debt limit – capped at $31.4 trillion at the current stage – the White House and the Republican-controlled Congress reached an initial deal on Saturday which is heading toward a vote on Wednesday in the House of Representatives, meaning the country will raise its debt ceiling for the 79th time since 1960. However, the US “fiscal bomb” has not been defused completely as the two political parties still jostle on the deal details of their compromises. Congressional lawmakers are supposed to approve the deal before June 5 to avoid a disastrous default.

Fruitful achievements are expected of China-Central Asia partnership after milestone summit Infographic:GT

The constant improvement of China's modern industrial system, backed up by the real economy, will determine whether China will progress and prevail in the increasingly fierce global competition, according to a policy statement after the meeting of the Central Commission for Financial and Economic Affairs which was convened on Friday. China now has the most complete industrial system in the world, and is playing an important role in the global industrial chain and supply chain. No matter what the future challenges and headwinds are, China's modernization must be based on a strong real economy, bolstered by persistent efforts in scientific research, technological innovation, and improvement of the dual-circulation system.

China's foreign trade in the first four months of 2023: Total volume: ￥13.32 tln, up 5.8% y-o-y Major trading partners: #ASEAN: ￥2.09 tln #EU: ￥1.8 tln #US: ￥1.5 tln Trade with Belt and Road countries: ￥4.61 tln

China's tourism rebounds during May Day holidays: -Domestic tourism trips: 274 mln -Tourism revenue: 148.1 bln yuan ($21.42 bln) -Box office: exceeded 1.5 bln yuan ($217 mln) as of 7 pm on Wed

China's economy is off to a solid start after the country declared a decisive victory against the COVID-19 pandemic. In the first quarter of 2023, GDP growth reached 4.5 percent, beating market expectations. Impressive recovery has also been seen in main economic drivers such as consumption, exports, and investment.

China's key economic index in Q1: -GDP: 28.50 trillion yuan, ↑4.5% yoy -Value-added industrial output: ↑3.0% yoy -Total retail sales of consumer goods: ↑5.8% yoy -Fixed-asset investment: ↑5.1% yoy -Surveyed urban unemployment rate: 5.5%

#GTGraphic: #China's foreign trade in Q1 2023: Total volume: ￥9.89 tln, up 4.8% y-o-y Major trading partners: #ASEAN: ￥1.56 tln #EU: ￥1.34 tln #US: ￥1.11 tln Trade with Belt and Road countries: ￥3.43 tln Trade with #RCEP members: ￥3.08 tln

A flurry of indicators including “excavator index” have suggested China's economic vitality in Q1 2023. - Avg. operating rate of excavators in Mar: 69.35% -No. of winning bids in Jan-Feb: ↑45.5% y-o-y -Crawler crane sales in Feb: ↑60.5% y-o-y See the #GTGraphic for more

In March 2018, then US President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum that imposed additional tariffs on Chinese products. Thus Washington launched into the biggest trade war against China in world trade history in recent decades. From the Trump to the Biden administration, from trade to technology and industry, US economic and trade policies to contain the development of China have become increasingly clear and confrontational over the last five years. It is worth noting that the trade war launched by the US against China has, so far, failed to achieve its intended goals. The main burden of US tariffs has fallen on domestic producers and consumers. Moreover, to avoid retaliatory tariffs from China and maintain access to Chinese customers, some automakers have moved production operations outside the US, further eroding US GDP. Unilateral tariffs have inflicted heavy losses on US businesses, families, and the US economy, while damaging the global economy and trade.

Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a state visit to Russia from March 20 to 22 at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, marking Xi's first foreign trip since being reelected as Chinese president on March 10. The trip further strengthened China-Russia bilateral cooperation that, officials said, has no limit nor forbidden zone. This infographic illustrates the thriving economic and trade cooperation between the two countries and the unlimited potential they hold.

On March 19, 2023, the Belgrade-Budapest Railway (Belgrade-Novi Sad section), a landmark project under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), will soon welcome its first anniversary. With its outstanding product and service quality, the Belgrade-Novi Sad railway has offered a speedy, convenient, and comfort travel experience to the Serbian people. The railway is significant not only for the development of Serbia but also for the connectivity improvement between the region and other parts of Europe and Asia, contributing to improved connectivity among Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC). Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has, on multiple occasions, commended the progress made by the railway.

It took Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) 40 years to become the 16th-biggest lender in the US serving the tech industry. But it only took two days for its meltdown. When many were still pondering whether the biggest US bank failure since 2008 was another Lehman Moment that started the global financial crisis over a decade ago, Signature Bank, the 29th-biggest lender in the US, collapsed. Silvergate, another regional lender, also failed. The spectacular falls of the US banks exposed profound risks of the fragile US bank system.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivered a Government Work Report on Sunday on behalf of the State Council at the opening meeting of the first session of the 14th National People's Congress, part of the two sessions. The report reviewed major achievements in economic and social development that China has made in the past five years, which have been truly momentous and remarkable. This work report demonstrates China's willpower, resilience and confidence and sets targets for the year of 2023, which is the first year for the full implementation of the 20th CPC National Congress goals, a crucial year for the implementation of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), and a key year for the laying of the foundation to build a modern socialist country in all respects.

One year on, the great success of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games created wide-ranging sustainable legacies and long-lasting benefits for the host city and its people, with all Olympic competition venues opened to the public. The vision of "engaging 300 million people in winter sports" has been achieved as scheduled. The winter sport and tourism craze ignited by the Olympics has maintained momentum during the 2022-2023 ice and snow season. Related industries are full of vitality and the snow and ice economy is entering a new track in China. All Games technology innovations and new standards will continue to serve the ever-expanding winter sports industry across the country.

Lantern Festival boosts consumption in China -Sales revenue of yuanxiao dumplings: up 113% y-o-y -Lantern sales: up 130% y-o-y -Booking for Lantern Festival activities: up 300% y-o-y

China's factory and services activity expanded for the first time in four months in January -- a clear sign of economic recovery. The manufacturing PMI bounced back into expansion at 50.1, while non-manufacturing PMI stood at 54.4, up from 41.6 in Dec.

Ahead of the Spring Festival holidays, the first after China entered a new phase of COVID response, many foreign media made dire predictions about China's epidemic situation and economic recovery, with some even declaring a "COVID catastrophe." However, what transpired during the holidays offered a resounding rebuttal to such fearmongering. A stunning rebound in travel and consumption fully reflected China's economic vitality and vast potential to contribute to global growth this year, as other major economies such as the US and the eurozone face recession risks.

China's economic growth led the world with an avg. annual growth of 4.5% from 2020 to 2022, more than double the global avg. China's GDP reached 114.9 trillion yuan in 2021 (up 8.4% y-o-y), accounting for 18.6% of the world's total.

The 7-day Spring Festival witnessed China's strong economic growth: -Passenger trips: 225 mln -Domestic tourism revenue: 375.84 bln yuan ($55.4 bln) -Box office: 6.758 bln ($996.1 mln) -Sales revenue of consumption-related sectors: up 12.2%

China on Tuesday reported a 3-percent GDP growth for 2022. Considering what officials call “many unexpected” negative factors last year, the growth rate is a hard-won result for an economy as large as China's. Still, many foreign media outlets seized the slower growth rate to smear China's economic development and anti-COVID efforts over the past three years, while completely ignoring the global downturn and sharp declines in Western economies. As these charts show, China's response to the pandemic is much more effective in both protecting public health as well as minimizing economic losses.

China's economy posted steady growth in 2022 with the country's GDP topping 121 trillion yuan or $18 trillion, setting a new record high. A total of 12.06 million new urban jobs were created in 2022.

China's foreign trade grows 7.7% y-o-y to 42.07 trillion yuan ($6.26 trillion) in 2022, making the country the No.1 goods trading nation around the world for a sixth consecutive year. Import and exports to ASEAN countries saw a significant increase of 15%.

The just concluded three-day New Year's Day holiday is the first official holiday after China on December 7, 2022 adjusted its response to COVID-19. With many regions across the country have experienced the infection peak during the COVID-19 exit wave, some foreign media had painted a rather grim picture for business activities during the holidays. However, as these charts show, busy scenes on streets of Beijing and other major cities and at factories, ports and construction sites across the nation pointed to a bustling start to 2023 and portend a robust recovery this year.

As 2022 draws to a close and China's response to the COVID-19 pandemic also enters a new chapter, it is of great significance to take stock of how the Chinese economy fared over the past three years under the pandemic. While Western media outlets spared no effort in smearing the economic impact of China's anti-epidemic measures, with some constantly peddling the cliché "China collapse" theory, China's economy - whether in terms of headline GDP growth or improvement of livelihood or investment in future higher-quality development - fared much better than other major economies, particularly Western economies, during the pandemic. Numbers don't lie. As this infographic shows, China's economic miracle remains unstoppable despite mounting challenges from the pandemic and other global crises.

Chinese society picks up recovery momentum as country optimizes epidemic response measures.

China has taken multiple measures to reinvigorate economy. Several provinces sent business delegations abroad to attract investment as industries such as film and tourism that were impacted by the epidemic gradually recover.

As inflation outpaces wage growth in the US, the traditional shopping season at the end of the year seems to have lost steam, with spending per consumer falling sharply. The number of gifts US consumers plan to buy during the holiday season has also fallen, with a heavier reliance on debt spending. Meanwhile, Made-in-China clearly remains indispensable for US consumers despite Washington's “decoupling” push.

Infographic: Made-in-China empowers World Cup Qatar Infographic

A trial run of the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway (HSR) will shine Indonesia's presidency of the G20 Summit this year. Being the first high-speed rail in ASEAN and the first high-speed rail project launched overseas that fully uses Chinese technology, standards and equipment, the Jakarta-Bandung HSR is also a landmark project promoting the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Indonesia's Global Maritime Axis strategy. The Jakarta-Bandung HSR, which will help boost regional economic development upon completion, is among other BRI railway projects that have become the new models of international cooperation.

-More than $73.52 billion worth of tentative deals inked, up 3.9% y-o-y -2,800+ enterprises from 127 countries and regions participated -438 new products, technologies and services showcased

As Europe preps for cold winter, China's exports of heating equipment skyrocketing