Interview: China's economy remains resilient despite downward pressure, says Singapore scholar

SINGAPORE, April 27 (Xinhua) -- China's economy remains resilient and possesses healthy developmental fundamentals despite the current downward pressure, said Yu Hong, a senior research fellow at the East Asian Institute of the National University of Singapore.

In the short term, the recent outbreak of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 in some Chinese cities has, to some extent, dampened the domestic consumption. Meanwhile, the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and the consequent adjustments in the global geopolitical and economic patterns have also posed great challenges to China's economic growth, Yu told Xinhua in a recent interview.

In the long run, however, the factors supporting China's economic growth haven't altered, he added.

Yu explained that China enjoys vast territory and abundant resources, with different regions being in different stages of development. "There is still spacious room for economic development, given the development gaps among various parts of China."

China has a complete manufacturing system, superior infrastructure and a gradually-improving business environment, making it still a strong magnet for foreign investment, he added.

According to statistics released by China's General Administration of Customs, the value of China's imports and exports in the first quarter this year registered a quarter-on-quarter climb of 10.7 percent, maintaining a positive growth for the seventh consecutive quarter.

Yu expressed the belief that the steady growth of imports and exports highlights the vitality of China's foreign trade and the huge capacity of China's manufacturing industry, which will help stabilize China's economic performance.

He noted China has recently introduced a series of measures to help enterprises tide over the hard times, such as granting favorable financial service towards the real economy, so as to maintain employment and people's livelihood.

Moreover, China has recently released a guideline to accelerate the establishment of a unified domestic market amid efforts to build a high-standard market system and promote high-quality development.

The establishment of a unified national market will help solve the problems that have long plagued China's economic development, such as local protectionism and market segmentation, said Yu.

It will also help all regions give play to their comparative advantages, reduce homogenized competition and attract more foreign investment through the improvement of the business environment, so as to narrow regional development gaps and achieve a more balanced overall development, he noted.