China’s economy to further grow in 2024

Muhammad Zamir Assadi

All eyes are currently focused on Beijing as China is all set to enter in a very hyped political season where the Two Sessions with global influence are going to be held at the Great Hall of the People starting on March 4^th.

Annual sessions,  also known as “Lianghui”,  set the tone of China’s diplomacy, social development, macro-economy, economic growth, economic achievements, financial management, fiscal and monetary targets, military, education, medical and all other sector’s agenda at the start of Chinese New Year.

The government work report delivered by the Chinese premier every year becomes the hallmark and is being awaited eagerly as it is going to set the economic and policy goals of China for the year ahead.

The Two Sessions are being held at a time when the global economy has been continuously facing the abuse of protectionism, isolationism and geo-political tensions fueled up by Western nations. In this backdrop, the international community has attached the highest hopes with the positive performance of the Chinese economy as its recovery following the post-COVID era may also add new growth momentum to the international economy as well.

Despite domestic challenges and external pressures, the 2^nd largest economy in the world, China wrapped up the economic targets of 2023 which means that the process of country’s economic transformation will be a procedure of deep interaction with the world economy and opening up to the world market will be continued in the New Year.

The latest statistics released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics show that China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 5.2 percent year on year to a new high of 126.06 trillion Yuan (about 17.7 trillion U.S. dollars) last year.

So if we look back in 2016, the Chinese economy grew by 6.7 % and now it recorded at 5.2 % in 2023.  That means it is the slowest growth in years but it is still in the government’s target range that was set for the previous year.

Facing the impact of the counter-tide of economic globalization, while pursuing a mutually beneficial opening-up strategy, China needs to accelerate the structural reforms aimed at economic transformation, constantly enhance the internal and external linkage of development, release the huge growth potential of economic transformation, stimulate the market vitality and stabilize the growth expectation in the year 2024.

However, one of the important issues that needs to be kept in mind is the latest forecast of the International Monetary Fund about the Chinese economy which projects that China's economy is projected to grow 4.6 percent in 2024, compared with 5.2 percent in 2023.

In this scenario, the one very important task that China needs to do is the diversification of its reforms that can give priority to the decisive role of the market in the domestic economy ensuring a fairer and more competitive environment for international firms that can play their extended role in the economic vibrancy of Chinese society in this year.

The direction of economic policy that will be announced in the government work report will have a direct impact on trade between China and other Asian countries, especially South Asian, Central Asian and South East Asian nations.

In recent years, China has emerged as a leading trading partner in global import and export and the largest trade partner for many economies as China’s trade volume with South Asian nations reached 197.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2022, with an average annual growth rate of 8.3 percent.

It shows the economic policies and performance of China with its GDP targets for the year 2024 will be having much more positive economic trajectories for many countries in this financial year. The economic measure has already generated the message that China is implementing an integrated trade cooperation strategy that seeks harmony at the global and regional level so as to participate in international economic cooperation on a larger scope, on a higher level, and to a greater depth.

In the year 2024, China with its status of responsible and influential economy of the world will not only continue promoting the development of the world economy through its development but will also provide its plans for constructing an open, inclusive and shared world economy.

In the days to come, China will play a bigger role in strengthening the global economic governance structure featuring mutual benefits and win-win outcomes by building a shared future of mankind.

These indicators have laid a stable and logical foundation for the stable performance of China’s economy in 2024 as well by engaging all the domestic and global stakeholders on the same page amidst the sluggish recovery of the global economy.

In order to ease the economic globalization plight, the current situation of China’s economy will also essentially inject new impetus into global economic growth as well as imbalance in international economic development.

(Muhammad Zamir Assadi is the media fellow of China International Press Communication Centre)