RIYADH: China's import and export volumes are expected to "continue on a growth trajectory," Commerce Minister Wang Wentao told delegates at a China Development Forum in Beijing on Sunday.
Wang told the conference that "foreign companies are not guests, but family" and also said China would step up efforts in government procurement, intellectual property rights, and serving foreign investors.
This comes after a fall in China’s exports for the January-February period pointed to continued weakness in demand for the country’s products, backing government concerns that a global slowdown will be felt at home, Reuters reported.
Imports dropped, too, government data showed earlier this month, also partly reflecting weak foreign demand, since the country brings in parts and materials from abroad for many of its exports.
Exports in the two months were 6.8 percent lower than a year before, after a 9.9 percent annual fall seen in December. The result was, however, better than the average expectation in a Reuters poll for a fall of 9.4 percent.
Imports were down by 10.2 percent, greatly missing the poll estimate for a 5.5 percent drop. December imports had been 7.5 percent lower than a year earlier.
“Given the high inflation in the US and Europe, demand from there should keep weakening, which also dampens the processing demand in China,” said Iris Pang, chief economist for Greater China at ING.
In addition to this, during the conference, International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva stressed that China’s gross domestic product is expecting a 5.2 percent growth in 2023, accounting for around 33.3 percent of global growth in 2023.
This foreshadows China’s strong economic rebound and also provides some light at the end of the tunnel for the world economy, the IMF chief emphasized.
The China Development Forum is an annual high-level global conference held in China right after the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference each year.
This year, the forum is taking place from March 25 up until March 27 under the theme “Economic Recovery: Opportunities and Cooperation”.
The conference poses an opportunity for participants to connect with political, economic, and significant decision makers in the Asian country.
