Evaluation of China’s development calls for dialectical, long-term perspective

People’s Daily

Currently, China is making progress in preventing and controlling the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic and speeding up restoring the order of production and life. At the same time, the spread of the epidemic overseas has exerted negative impacts on global economy, bringing new challenges to the development of China’s economy.

At such a time it is even more important to view China's development in a comprehensive, dialectical and long-term perspective, as Chinese President Xi Jinping pointed out. We also need to have an accurate grasp of the complicated conditions for economic development and firm up confidence.

Affected by multiple factors, China faces increasing economic pressure as the epidemic is exerting big impacts on the Chinese economy.

But the impacts are generally short-lived, external and controllable as China has forcefully guaranteed people’s livelihood and maintained social order, and the fundamentals sustaining long-term sound growth and strong internal driving force have not changed.

In the severe test of the epidemic, China has profound material and technology foundation, as well as strong capability to supply, adapt, and repair itself. These factors make its economy resilient in front of the epidemic and enable its comprehensive national strength to withstand the pressure.

To view China’s development in a comprehensive way calls for grasping the larger picture while focusing on the major sectors.

In the first two months of the year, the total output value of China’s industrial enterprises above designated size reached 11.5 trillion yuan; the total retail sales of consumer goods exceeded 5.2 trillion yuan; the fixed asset investment exceeded 3.3 trillion yuan. The figures indicate that the large size of the economy remains an advantage of China.

During epidemic prevention and control, China’s basic industries are well safeguarded and epidemic prevention materials sufficiently supplied.

The epidemic did not interrupt the production of important industries directly concern the country’s stability and the people’s wellbeing. In addition, the expansion of the production of epidemic prevention materials has fully satisfied the need for virus control.

There are affluent supplies of living necessities and goods for public use. During the first two months, the basic livelihood of the Chinese people was effectively guaranteed, and consumer goods maintained a sound growth overall.

The overall balance of supply and demand indicates that the resilience of strong economic development has not changed.

To dialectically view the Chinese economy calls for looking at the problems in the light of their development and looking for opportunities amid challenges.

New businesses, new models and new products registered growth amid the epidemic. The demand for online shopping, grocery e-commerce, online education, telemedicine, and telecommuting expanded quickly, and the production of high-tech products also improved.

This indicates that the momentum for the rapid growth of new growth drivers has not changed, which is totally able to help the country turn short-term pressure into the impetus for upgrading and transformation.

As the progress of epidemic control is gradually consolidated, the endogenous power of the Chinese economy will continue to be released, and some previously suspended economic activities will also go back to normal.

To view the Chinese economy from a long-term perspective requires strategic and overall thinking. The fundamentals concerning long-term sound development of China’s economy are determined by China’s basic national conditions, development foundation, development stage, development environment, development potential and momentum, systematic and institutional conditions, development strategies, macro policies and development goals. The epidemic will not change those.

China yielded nearly 100 trillion yuan of GDP last year. The country is home to the world’s largest group of middle-income earners, as well as more than 100 million market entities. It possesses all the industrial categories in the United Nations industrial classification. All this evidences a firm foundation propelling steady development in the long run, which is unshakable despite the epidemic.

On the way forward, the country is led by the strong Communist Party of China, holds the institutional advantage of concentrating all efforts on major tasks, and continues to stay united as one.

With the profound material and technology foundation laid since the reform and opening-up, abundant human capital and human resources, and rich experience in macroeconomic regulation and large policy room, the country has the confidence, necessary conditions and capability to cope with all risks and challenges, and keep the development initiative firmly in its own hands.

The Chinese economy is a vast sea. It has gone through twists and turns and still holds enormous resource potential, strong endogenous power, vitality for growth and stable and sound momentum in the long run. As long as it firms up confidence, turn pressure into impetus and crises into opportunities and fully release the huge development potential and strong driving force, it will definitely overcome all difficulties and challenges, and let the ship of the Chinese economy ride the waves and sail forward steadily.

Employees manufacture a high-speed railway bridge girder erection machine which is 40 meters in length and weighs 1,000 tons at a factory of China Railway 11th Bureau Group Hanjiang Heavy Industry Co., Ltd., which is based in Xiangyang, central China’s Hubei province, March 19, 2020. Wang Hu, People’s Daily Online.