Experts, execs confident in China's growth

Peng Sen (center), president of the China Society of Economic Reform, speaks on Thursday at a subforum themed on China's economic outlook at the 15th Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Dalian, Liaoning province. (ZOU HONG/CHINA DAILY)

China is poised to meet its annual growth target of around 5 percent this year, given strong policy stimulus and the gradual recovery in confidence and expectations, experts and global entrepreneurs said on Thursday at the 15th Annual Meeting of the New Champions, also known as the Summer Davos.

The world's second-largest economy is a key source of global demand, playing a significant role in driving the world's economic growth and offering growing opportunities for global stakeholders, they said at the event held in Dalian, Liaoning province.

Despite pressures and mounting uncertainties at home and abroad, they said they believe that China has the capabilities and conditions to deal with structural issues and foster new quality productive forces in the long run.

Peng Sen, president of the China Society of Economic Reform, said he is fully confident that China will achieve its annual growth target of around 5 percent this year, given the support of the adopted macroeconomic policies and the country's accelerated push for fostering new quality productive forces.

"China's economy is on the upswing," Peng said on Thursday at a subforum whose theme was the country's economic outlook. However, "the recovery process doesn't yet have very firm foundations amid insufficient demand, still-weak expectations among the public, and uncertainties, particularly from the external environment", he added.

Advancing reforms will be key to tackling the issues facing the economy, Peng said.

More efforts should be made to provide policies supporting the innovative development of the private sector, accelerate the push for building a unified national market, deepen market-oriented reforms of production factors such as land, capital, labor, technology, and data, and address institutional improvements in the market economy system, he added.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Thursday that industrial enterprises with annual revenue of at least 20 million yuan ($2.75 million) saw their total profits increase 3.4 percent year-on-year in the first five months of 2024, compared with 4.3 percent in the first four months.

In May, China's industrial profits rose 0.7 percent year-on-year, compared with 4 percent year-on-year growth in April.

In an exclusive interview with China Daily, Joe Ngai, chairman of management consultancy McKinsey China, said the broader economy is still facing pressures from sluggish demand, pointing to market concern over a mismatch in supply and demand.

He said on the sidelines of the Summer Davos that more efforts are needed to improve the offering of consumer goods and services, create more jobs, and increase people's incomes.

Meanwhile, Ngai said China's 2024 annual growth target of around 5 percent is achievable amid a steady recovery in confidence, and the country is poised to contribute around one-third of global economic growth.

Zhang Xiaoyan, associate dean of Tsinghua University's PBC School of Finance, said the Chinese economy is gradually shaking off the impact of COVID-19.

Technological innovation, notably artificial intelligence and green industries will serve as new growth drivers boosting China's growth, Zhang added.

NBS data showed that the equipment manufacturing sector registered rapid profit growth with advanced, intelligent, and green development. In the first five months of the year, profits recorded by equipment manufacturing enterprises surged 11.5 percent year-on-year, which was 8.1 percentage points higher than the figure for overall industrial profits.

Svein Tyldum, CEO for North Asia at consultancy Marsh McLennan, said, "The Chinese economy got off to a pretty good start in the first quarter and has some positive factors that have been laying a foundation for achieving its annual growth target.

"China's pursuit of high-quality drivers of production and China's economic development has created greater cooperation space for companies around the world to work together in a more harmonious way," he added.

Tyldum noted that China is Marsh McLennan's second-largest operation in Asia, and the company is committed to the China market, with more investment plans.

US-based smart building solutions provider Johnson Controls expressed strong optimism about the Chinese economy and opportunities in China, saying the company has benefited from the country's steady economic growth over the past few decades.

Anu Rathninde, president of Johnson Controls Asia-Pacific, said: "We appreciate the continuous opening-up in China, and we appreciate the continuous reforms and the support and welcome for foreign enterprises. As China's economy grows, the foreign enterprises grow and benefit equally."