On June 2, 2023, H.E. Lin Xianjiang, Chinese Ambassador to Dominica published a signed article entitled China’s economy off to a good start in Q1 2023 on the Chronicle Newspaper, introducing the main highlights and policies on China's economy in the first quarter of 2023.
Following is the full text of the article：
On the May Day just past, I participated in a friendly match versus the U17 Girls National Football Team of Dominica with Chinese residents here, which made me a pleasant holiday with all Dominican friends. Meanwhile on the other side of the ocean, people in China chose to embark on journeys, enjoying magnificent scenery and delicious food nationwide. According to data released by relational authorities, during the 2023 May Day holiday, a total of 274 million domestic trips were made in China, registering a domestic tourism revenue of 148.056 billion yuan (21.05 billion US dollars), which was quite a remarkable achievement.
The booming domestic tourism market epitomizes the smooth and robust performance of China's economy in the first quarter. The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), which was held triumphantly in October last year, set the direction for China's economic development. Since January, China has been carrying out its work in an orderly manner amid a series of changes, including the adjustment of COVID-19 control measures and the officially functioning of the new government. In the face of a tough international environment and a series of onerous tasks of domestic reform, development and stability, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, China has made economic stability its top priority and pursued progress while ensuring stability. We adhere to applying the new development philosophy in full, in the right way, and in all fields of endeavor, accelerating the creation of a new development pattern, pursuing high-quality development and better considering both domestic and external situations in a coordinative way, which helps to achieve a good start in this year’s economy.
Domestically, China has fully coordinated epidemic prevention and control with economic and social development, mainly presenting the following characteristics:
--Economic growth rebounded steadily. In the first quarter, China's GDP reached 28.49 trillion yuan (4.038 trillion US dollars), growing 4.5 percent year on year. Against the backdrop of a significant slowdown in global economic growth, China has achieved a rapid economic recovery, laying a solid foundation for achieving the annual economic and social development goals.
--Market demand expanded gradually. In the first quarter, with the expansion of consumption scenarios and improvement of consumption expectations, the demand of Chinese consumers increased gradually. Commodity consumption, especially service consumption, shifted from decline to increase. The total retail sales of consumer goods reached 11 trillion yuan (1.558 trillion US dollars), a year-on-year increase of 5.8%, of which the retail sales of services increased by 13.7%. Meanwhile, market investment has steadily increased as well, with infrastructure investment and manufacturing investment increasing by 8.8% and 7% respectively year-on-year.
--Employment and prices were stabilized generally. In the first quarter, the overall employment situation in China improved with a total of 2.97 million new urban jobs, an increase of 120,000 persons year-on-year. The average surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas was 5.5%, down 0.1 percentage point from the fourth quarter last year. Meanwhile, prices remained stable. The national CPI (Consumer Price Index) rose 1.3% year on year, and the rate of increase continued to fall. The general price level was within a reasonable range and the well-being of people's livelihoods was safeguarded.
--Market vitality increased significantly. In the first quarter, key figures of China’s economy such as Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) and Non-Manufacturing Index (NMI) performed well, while the freight volume and passenger volume of railways and civil aviation both rose rapidly. The continuous release of positive signals from all aspects of China's economy has led to further positive expectations among business entities, especially in the private sector.
--Transformation and upgrading trend continued. In the first quarter, in addition to the positive situation in traditional industries such as agriculture, industrial production and services, China also achieved a 16% year-on-year increase in investment in high-tech industries, and a 22.5% and 53.2% increase in the production of new energy vehicles and solar cells respectively. This signifies that China's industries will further transform into digital, green and low-carbon industries, providing new momentum to promote high-quality development.
Internationally, despite the adverse effects of shrinking external demand, decoupling policy pushed by some countries and increased international competition, China stayed on the course of high-level opening-up and boosted confidence in the world economic recovery with its own economic development. Some international organizations have raised their expectations for China's economic growth this year, with the International Monetary Fund forecasting that China's contribution to world economic growth will exceed one-third this year.
On the one hand, China is vigorously promoting the stability and quality of its foreign trade, and actively exploring trade cooperation with emerging markets such as countries along the "Belt and Road" and developing countries, including Dominica. In the first quarter, China's total imports and exports increased by 4.8% year on year. Meanwhile, the foreign trade with countries along the "Belt and Road" increased by 16.8% year on year, and the trips and goods of China-Europe Freight Train rose by 15% and 28% respectively, contributing to the economic development of the relative countries.
On the other hand, China has made greater efforts to introduce foreign investment, demonstrating its strong global appeal. In the first quarter, China’s utilized foreign investment reached 408.45 billion yuan (57.85 billion US dollars), up 4.9% year-on-year. Over 10,000 foreign-funded enterprises were established in China, up 25.5% year-on-year. France, Germany, the UK, Canada, Japan, Switzerland and South Korea saw significant growth in investment in China. In particular, with the success of China Development Forum, the Boao Forum for Asia, the launching ceremony of "Invest in China Year" and other major events such as the China International Consumer Products Expo and the China Import and Export Fair (aka. Canton Fair), many international dignitaries and company executives came to China to participate in visits and reach cooperation agreements. Among them, more than 300 new foreign investment projects have been signed, involving key industries such as biomedicine, advanced manufacturing, chemical energy, and modern service. China is constantly providing new opportunities of investments and cooperation for the world.
In March this year, my friend Foreign Minister Hon. Dr. Vince Henderson raveled to China to participate in the Boao Forum for Asia and to exchange views with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister H.E. Qin Gang on the further development of bilateral relations and the strengthening of practical cooperation between the two sides in various fields. A group of 25 outstanding Dominicans are also on their way to China for training and visits to Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou, where they can experience first-hand economic development achievements of China.
China and Dominica are both part of the Group of Friends of the Global Development Initiative (GDI) and will continue to strengthen the coordination of economic development policies, exchange experience and share results through practical cooperation, material donations, technical support and personnel exchanges under the framework of the GDI, with the support of the China-Caribbean Development Centre and other platforms. As the Chinese Ambassador to Dominica, I would like to continue to promote the cooperation between the two countries in areas of infrastructure, agriculture, education, healthcare and climate change, etc., making the fruits of economic development better benefit the people of both sides.