United Nations economist Hamid Rashid said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua News Agency on May 16 that China's economic growth has a solid foundation and there are reasons to have confidence in China's economic prospects.
The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs released the "World Economic Situation and Prospects 2023" mid-year update report on the same day, raising China's economic growth forecast in 2023 from 4.8% predicted at the beginning of the year to 5.3%.
Rashid, who heads the global economic monitoring unit of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, is the lead author of the report. He said that the upward revision of China's economic growth forecast is mainly based on the following factors: since the beginning of this year, the strong rebound in China's retail sales data reflects strong consumer demand; China's real estate market has largely stabilized; China has sufficient fiscal and monetary policy space to support the economy Activity.
Rashid expects that China will achieve its economic growth target this year. Looking ahead to the coming year, if the United States and Europe fall into recession or enter a long-term low-growth phase, the Chinese economy may face downside risks such as weak external demand. Despite these risks, "compared with many countries, China's economic fundamentals are very solid," he said.
Rashid believes that China's advantage is that once there is downward pressure on the economy, fiscal and monetary policies will play a role to provide support for economic activities. He said that China's economy has maintained rapid growth over the past few decades, in which appropriate economic policies have played an important role. If China continues to implement the current policies, the economic growth momentum will be maintained in the long run. "We are confident in China's economic growth prospects."
Rashid said that after the epidemic, China's economy has recovered steadily, and its positive spillover impact on the world economy has already appeared. The recovery of China's economy has boosted the export growth of many developing countries, which is also good news for many countries that rely on Chinese tourists. As a technology importer, China's economic recovery is also good for developed countries.
Rashid pointed out that as the world's second largest economy, China has always been committed to practicing multilateralism and has played a constructive role in the development of the world economy. As China's economy recovers, the pace of recovery in international trade will also accelerate
