On November 20th, 2024, an article by Ambassador Wu Wei titled “China’s Growth Generates Global Opportunities” was published in The Kaselehlie Press, the bi-weekly newspaper in the FSM, in its Vol. 24 and Iss. 25. The article introduces China’s current economic situation and expounds the cooperation vision between China and Pacific Island countries including the FSM.
The full text is as follows:
“What will happen in China’s super-large market in one day within 24 hours?”
In the first half of this year, Xinhua News Agency released an article titled Economic Watch: Zooming into China’s super-large market, which mentioned this question. The answer is amazing: in every 24 hours, an average of 27,000-plus new businesses are registered, over 80,000 vehicles roll off the assembly line, products worth 35 billion yuan (nearly 5 billion U.S. dollars) are sold online, and some 300 million parcels are delivered nationwide. What lies behind these stunning figures is the huge driving force of China’s economic growth.
Against the backdrop of the current weak recovery of the world economy, frequent geopolitical conflicts and international trade frictions, China’s economy maintains a sound momentum of steady growth. The package of incremental policies rolled out by multiple Chinese authorities recently further unlocks growth potential, and high-quality development makes solid progress, which continue to bring openness and opportunities to the world.
In the first three quarters of 2024, according to preliminary estimates, China’s gross domestic product (GDP) reached 94,974.6 billion yuan, up by 4.8 percent year on year at constant price. The total value of imports and exports of goods was 32,325.2 billion yuan, an increase of 5.3 percent year on year, a record high for the same period in history. Fields such as green economy, marine economy and festival economy performed particularly well. In the first three quarters of 2024, the newly installed capacity for renewable energy generation nationwide was 210 million kilowatts, a year-on-year increase of 21%, accounting for 86% of the newly installed capacity for electricity; the cumulative production and sales of new energy vehicles was 8.316 million and 8.32 million units respectively, up 31.7% and 32.5% year-on-year respectively; the marine economy showed steady progress with a gross ocean product of 7.7 trillion yuan, a 5.4 percent year-on-year increase. During the weeklong National Day holidays, a total of 765 million domestic trips were made across China, and the total spending by domestic tourists during the holidays rose to 700.8 billion yuan (nearly 100 billion U.S. dollars). All industries and economic sectors of China are sending strong signals of positive economic growth and vibrant development.
While seeing achievements and highlights of economic development, China faces squarely the challenges such as a relatively weak effective demand and market expectations, and some hidden risks. China has stepped up efforts to launch a package of incremental policies focusing on enhancing counter-cyclical adjustments, expanding effective domestic demand, supporting business operation, promoting the recovery of the property market, and invigorating capital markets. These policies give full consideration to reality and address both immediate and long-term priorities, through which the Chinese economy is to further demonstrate its resilience and potential. Many international organizations have revised up their forecasts for China’s economic growth this year. Bloomberg has predicted that China will be the largest contributor to global economic growth in the next five years. China is confident in maintaining the sustained, stable and sound development of the economy and society, and achieving this year’s goals and tasks of economic and social development.
He who travels alone goes fast, but he who travels in company goes far. As China presses ahead with modernization through reform, it will unleash enormous opportunities for entrepreneurs and businesses from China and across the world. It will also boost cooperation with other developing countries that are pursuing growth and rejuvenation. In this way, Chinese modernization will inject strong impetus to the modernization of the Global South and of the whole world. As the largest country in the Global South and the world’s second largest economy, China has always attached great importance to the common needs of the vast developing countries, including the Pacific Island countries, and shared development opportunities and results. China actively advanced high-level opening up, improved the mechanisms for high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, implemented the Global Development Initiative and made good use of Global Development Promotion Center Network. Seven major cooperation platforms, including the reserve of emergency supplies, climate change cooperation center, poverty reduction and development cooperation center, agricultural cooperation demonstration center, disaster preparedness and mitigation cooperation center, Juncao mushroom technology demonstration center and police training center, have been put into use one after another, building the mechanisms and pillars of China - Pacific Island countries cooperation.
Recently, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered an important speech at the “BRICS Plus” Leaders’ Dialogue and said that the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China made systemic plans for further deepening reform comprehensively to advance Chinese modernization. This will provide more opportunities for the world.
China and the Pacific Island countries including the Federated States of Micronesia are good partners walking side by side on the way to modernization. China has embarked on the new journey of building a great modern socialist country in all respects and achieving national rejuvenation through Chinese modernization. The Pacific Island countries are also moving towards the modernization vision outlined in the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent. China is willing to work with the FSM, in the spirit of win-win cooperation and with the well-being of the people in mind, to strengthen South-South cooperation and seek common development, and work together to build a universally-beneficial and inclusive world economy, so as to inject new impetus into the common pursuit of modernization of our two countries, and promote the modernization of the Global South and the wider world through the modernization of China and the Pacific Island countries.