(It is always good to occasionally get an article from the Chinese Ambassador to Tonga, H.E. Mr. Liu Weimin, to be published in the Talanoa ‘o Tonga. This one is so helpful regarding the effect of China’s economic growth on her trading partners, including Tonga. This is published with great appreciation. Kalafi Moala, Editor.)
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Amid the global economic slowdown and multiple challenges, China’s economy still maintains sound momentum, which is indeed a hard-won result given these difficulties.
China’s economy enjoys strong resilience, great potential and vitality. Despite a complicated external environment and internal emerging challenges, China’s economy has posted generally stable performance. According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, in the first three quarters of 2024, China’s gross domestic product grew by 4.8%, reaching USD$13.33 trillion, which lays a solid foundation for reaching the full-year target.
China firmly supports trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, becomes the major trading partner for over 140 countries and regions, and had signed 22 free-trade agreements with 29 countries and regions. China’s total trade in goods hit USD$4.57 trillion, setting a record with an increase of 5.3% year-on-year. These remarkable data showed that China’s economy still remains highly competitive in the global economy.
China is stepping up efforts to introduce a package of incremental policies, including an emphasis on scaling up macro counter-cyclical adjustments, boosting domestic consumption, and shoring up capital markets to promote sustained economic recovery and improvement.
China enjoys four distinct advantages: a socialist market economy in systemic terms, a supersize market in terms of demand, a full-fledged industrial system in terms of supply, and abundant, high-caliber labor force and entrepreneurs in terms of human resources. We are confident that the giant ship of the Chinese economy will continue to cleave waves and sail ahead.
China’s high-quality economic development has made solid progress. New industries, new models and new driving forces are growing at a faster pace. In the first three quarters of this year, the export of “green trio” — electric vehicles, solar batteries and lithium-ion batteries reached about USD$107.15 billion, accounting for 4.1% of China’s total export.
The burgeoning new energy sector has made China one of the countries with the fastest energy intensity reduction in the world. China has built the world’s largest and full-fledged industrial chain of the new energy sector. This gives a strong boost to global energy transition and green, low-carbon and sustainable development. Innovation is a shining feature of China’s economy.
Among the World Economic Forum’s 2024 cohort of Technology Pioneers, China ranks second with 11 companies on the list. On the latest global list of 153 lighthouse factories, China tops other countries with 62 companies on the list. Currently, there are more than 55 million private enterprises in China, accounting for 92.3% of all businesses. Quite a few of them are entering stages of high-quality, high-tech development, fueling the development of China’s new quality productive forces.
China’s development brings new opportunities to global economy. As the world’s second-largest economy, China contributed more than 30% of global economic growth over the past years. China had signed over 200 Belt and Road cooperation documents with over 150 countries and 30 international organizations, and created more than 420,000 local jobs in partner countries. Over the past decade, Belt and Road cooperation has galvanized nearly USD$ 1 trillion of investment globally and lifted 40 million people out of poverty. As Belt and Road cooperation has entered its second decade, new opportunities are emerging.
The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was successfully held this July. The session put forward over 300 reform measures to advance Chinese modernization, which will bring about more opportunities and offer more path options to developing countries, including Tonga, for their self-driven development.
Since 1st December 2024, China will give all the least developed countries having diplomatic relations with China zero-tariff treatment for 100% tariff lines. Opening up is a defining feature of Chinese modernization. China remains a magnet for foreign investment, will continue to foster a world-class, market-oriented business environment governed by a sound legal framework, and provide quality services for foreign businesses.
We encourage Tonga’s companies to do business with China, and make full use of China’s huge market, dynamism of innovation and dividends of strong growth so as to enrich the China-Tonga comprehensive strategic partnership, and achieve common development and prosperity.
The high-quality growth of China’s economy has opened a door of hope for world’s economic growth, and injected fresh impetus for the anemic global economy. Few days ago, Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the “BRICS Plus” Dialogue and delivered important remarks, which set the direction for the Global South to strengthen cooperation going forward.
China will continue to work with Global South countries, including Tonga, to advance high-quality development and open up a new chapter of solidarity. China is willing to share its own dividends of reform and development, and welcome Tonga to seize China’s economic opportunities so as to deliver more benefit to Tonga and its people, and promote development and revitalization of the “Friendly Islands”.
Source: Embassy PRC Tonga
