Interview: Reviving Chinese economy to pump energy in world recovery, says scholar

SINGAPORE, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- China's optimization of its pandemic control policies will stimulate consumption and boost confidence in world economic development in the long run, a Singaporean scholar told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Faced with the COVID-19 outbreak, China took all necessary measures to stop the rapid spread of the virus, which ensured people's health and enabled the country to play its role in stabilizing the world economy, said Gu Qingyang, an associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy of the National University of Singapore.

"The pandemic lashed global growth, while China, as the world's second-largest economy, has managed to maintain the stability of global supply chain with its massive trade, even in 2022 when the country was hit by the Omicron variation," Gu said.

China's foreign trade of goods expanded 8.6 percent in the first 11 months of 2022 to 38.34 trillion yuan (about 5.65 trillion U.S. dollars), according to the country's General Administration of Customs.

"China-Europe freight trains and the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor have promoted the connectivity of infrastructure in many countries," Gu said. "Such projects effectively hedged the risk of logistics disruption amid the pandemic and laid a foundation for economic recovery."

China not only played its part in ensuring unimpeded international supply chains but also delivered new opportunities to developing countries, the scholar added.

"Cambodia and Vietnam built quite some infrastructure projects, such as highways and industrial parks, in cooperation with Chinese companies during the pandemic, which enables the developing countries to embrace more growth opportunities," Gu told Xinhua.

A reviving Chinese consumer market will inject greater momentum into the world economy, he noted.

"As China has adjusted its pandemic prevention policies, outbound Chinese tourists will fuel the global tourism industry, and China-related industrial and supply chains will become more stable," Gu said, adding that robust trade with China will bring more vitality to global growth.

"Some international study institutions downgraded the growth forecasts of major economies in 2023, but they are optimistic about China's potential. Their attitude shows that the Chinese economy will be a major power to boost market confidence and global economic recovery," Gu stressed.