China expected to meet annual growth target in 2022: Experts

Citing China's faster-than-expected 4.8 per cent year-on-year (YoY) growth in the first quarter, they said there still exists a gap between first-quarter growth and the country's annual growth target, calling for more steps to accelerate macroeconomic policy support, especially for hard-hit enterprises and sectors, an official Chinese media outlet reported.

Compared with major economies, China reported higher GDP growth with lower inflation in the first quarter, demonstrating robust economic resilience despite downward pressures, said Wang Yiming, vice chairman of the China Centre for International Economic Exchanges.

Wang said at a recent seminar on the country’s economic situation in Beijing that while China witnessed sustainable industrial growth, rising investment demand and strong innovation momentum in the first quarter, the growth of major economic indicators have slowed since March because of the COVID-19 cases and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

With many market entities like micro and small businesses facing difficulties and mounting pressures, he said, more efforts should be made to actively respond to the concerns of those entities to stabilise market expectations and provide stronger macroeconomic policy adjustments to stabilise the economy.

Considering the strong resilience of the economy and China's ample tools, Liu Qiao, dean of the Guanghua School of Management at Peking University, believes China has the confidence to meet its annual growth target of around 5.5 per cent this year.

Sang Baichuan, dean of the Institute of International Economy at the University of International Business and Economics, said China's economy will remain in the process of recovery this year while facing pressures from the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical tensions and monetary policy adjustments in the United States and Europe.

A new survey released by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China and Roland Berger consultancy showed China's domestic COVID-19 cases and the Russia-Ukraine crisis are creating severe challenges to European business operations.

The survey said 23 per cent of respondents are now considering shifting current or planned investments out of China to other markets, more than double the number that were considering doing so at the beginning of 2022.

Vice minister of commerce Sheng Qiuping said that given challenges in the foreign trade sector, the ministry of commerce will work to safeguard smooth logistics and production activities, improve financial support and encourage new business forms, such as cross-border commerce.

China's consumption market will further expand, as the country has 1.4 billion people, including 400 million middle-income earners, he added.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)