Global Times: 'Two sessions' inspire global confidence in China's economic prospects

BEIJING, March 11, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Multiple international observers have expressed confidence in prospects of Chinese economy during this year's "two sessions," and they noted that the world's second-largest economy's high-quality development through innovation will inject fresh impetus into world economic growth amid mounting global uncertainties.

The "two sessions" are the annual meetings of China's top legislature, the National People's Congress (NPC), and the top political advisory body, the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

China is targeting an economic growth rate of around 5 percent in 2025, according to the Government Work Report submitted to the NPC for deliberation during the "two sessions." The report also outlines an array of other key development goals for this year, including a surveyed urban unemployment rate of around 5.5 percent, over 12 million new urban jobs, and a roughly 2 percent increase in the consumer price index.

"Achieving this year's targets will not be easy, and we must make arduous efforts to meet them," the Government Work Report stressed.

"These figures send a more positive and clear policy signal, boosting confidence among consumers, entrepreneurs, foreign enterprises, investors, and the whole market. The government is expected to release forceful measures in both reform and opening-up as well as economic development to sustain economic growth," Ji Mo, chief China economist of Singapore-based DBS Bank, told the Global Times on Monday.

Sena Yao Voncujovi, an Africa-China policy analyst at Development Reimagined, an independent International Development consultancy, said China's GDP growth target of around 5 percent comes at a critical moment, with the country's stable development serving as a key anchor for global economic stability.

"China renewed its commitments and focus on tech, artificial intelligence (AI) and big data, as well as green development. This is very positive for not only China but overall global development," Voncujovi told the Global Times on Monday.

Bright prospects

Despite the adverse impacts brought about by the external environment and the continued challenges facing the economy, foreign experts expressed confidence that China can achieve this year's economic development goals given supporting conditions and fundamental trends.

Radhika Desai, professor of the Department of Political Studies of University of Manitoba in Canada, told the Global Times that as the world's largest developing country, China focuses on both the pace and quality of growth, making sure that it actually enhances not only the standard of living but also quality of life, gaining strong economic growth momentum.

"China has, and will continue, to pursue technological advancement in a whole range of fields," she said. Desai made reference to Chinese AI company DeepSeek, noting that "It's a massive achievement for a Chinese startup to create a large language model that could outperform its Western counterparts. It is a model of technological development that benefits all of humankind and is itself enriched by doing so."

China demonstrates a policy blueprint for developing nations to boost economy through domestic spending apart from exports while expanding their financial programs. China's established policy framework delivers useful guidance about handling relationships between domestic growth and financial security alongside technological advancement, said Muhammad Zamir Assadi, editor of China Desk at Internews Pakistan.

The 2025 "two sessions" in China present substantial prospects for developing countries to join their economic power and technological breakthroughs.

China's GDP grew by 5 percent year-on-year in 2024, ranking among the world's fastest-growing major economies and continuing to contribute about 30 percent to global economic growth, official data showed.

"In the past 40-plus years, China did everything right," Scott Rozelle, co-director of Stanford Center on China's Economy and Institutions, told the Global Times, speaking highly of China's achievements in marketization and new technologies.

"The Chinese market is very competitive and made things very efficient. There's only one way to grow. That's by productivity, growth, new technologies," Rozelle said.

China has achieved rapid development through reform and opening up since 1978. Today, the country continues to push forward comprehensive reform with firm determination and stepped-up efforts to boost its high-quality development and share opportunities with the rest of the world.

This year, the "two sessions" also underscored China's firm commitment to expanding high-standard opening-up and stabilizing foreign trade and foreign investment.

"Regardless of changes in the external environment, we should remain steadfast in our commitment to opening up," said the Government Work Report. "We should steadily expand institutional opening up and take the initiative to open wider and advance unilateral opening up in a well-ordered way, to promote reform and development through greater openness."

"China's emphasis on sharing the fruits of its innovation with the world, and the Global South in particular, is very important. For example, in the tech and AI fields, where the development of technologies has been very expensive, China's support and ability to leverage its innovation and provide them at affordable rates to developing countries such as African countries, is something that, from a Global South perspective, is very positive and welcome," Voncujovi said.

Denis Depoux, global managing director at Germany's strategy consulting firm Roland Berger, said that China is and will remain an important market for many multinational companies.

Looking ahead to 2025, Depoux called the concept of new quality productive forces a key driver of China's economic growth. "This reflects China's determination to modernize its industries and shift toward value-added economic leadership," he told the Global Times.

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SOURCE Global Times