By Mr. Jianhua ZENG,Acting Consul General of
the People’s Republic of China in Melbourne
In mid-March, the First Session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) and the First Session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) came to a successful conclusion in Beijing. China’s new leadership of state institutions were elected. This crucial grand meeting in spring steers and guides the great ship of “China”, through which the international community will better understand China's future development path and the way China interacts with the whole world. In the face of global security challenges and economic recovery tasks, China, by holding the “Two Sessions”, has sent clear-cut and positive message to the world: China, through its new development, will provide new impetus to the world economy growth and will bring new expectations to the world peace and human progress.
China will pursue high-quality development and inject more momentum into global economic recovery. In the past 5 years, China’s economic strength reached new heights. China’s GDP increased to 121 trillion yuan, registering an annual growth rate of 5.2 percent. We have achieved a medium-high rate of economic growth given our large economic aggregate and transitioned to high-quality development. The main projected target of GDP growth for development this year is of around 5 percent. Fiscal, monetary, industrial, scientific and technological, and social policies will be carried out in a more coordinated way to create synergy for high-quality development. International organizations including IMF and World Bank have raised their forecasts for China's economic growth in 2023. It is believed that China will take the lead in driving 2023 world economy growth.
China will take an active part in global governance and contribute to world peace and development. In recent years, China has put forward a series of initiatives such as the Global Development Initiative (GDI) and the Global Security Initiative (GSI), in an effort to address the deficit of peace, development, security and governance faced by mankind. Since Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the GDI in 2021, more than 100 countries and international organizations have already supported the initiative, and more than 60 countries have joined the “Group of Friends of the GDI”. China has also taken concrete actions to maintain the world peace by issuing China’s Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis, promoting the restoration of relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran. China will continue to hold high the banner of peace, development, cooperation and mutual benefit to build a harmonious world of enduring peace and common prosperity.
China will pursue high-standard opening and create more opportunities for the common development of all countries. China keeps hosting major trade events such as the China International Import Expo (CIIE), the China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair), the China International Fair for Trade in Services and the China International Consumer Products Expo. China is the main trading partner of over 140 countries and regions, and has contributed over 30 percent of global growth on average for 10 years in a row. Every minute, goods worth 12 million US Dollars are traded between China and the world; every hour, China makes some 16 million US Dollars in outbound direct investment; and every day, 500 million US Dollars worth of foreign investment flows into China. The World Openness Report 2022 shows that through the past 13 years, China’s ranking in the World Openness Index has moved up from the 62nd to the 39th out of 129 major economies of the world. China will continue to expand market access, improve the business environment, align with high-standard international economic and trade rules, and steadily expand institutional opening up to share market with all countries.
No country in the world can be isolated. China cannot develop by shutting itself from the world, nor can the world develop by shutting out China. Victoria and Tasmania have advantages in high-quality agricultural and animal husbandry products and education industries, which embrace huge potential for cooperation with China. China welcomes Victorian and Tasmanian enterprises to attend the 6th China International Import Expo held in Shanghai this November. As China-Australia relations keep improving, China stands ready to work with Victorian and Tasmanian friends to jointly promote our bilateral exchanges and practical cooperation in various fields and provide our two peoples with real benefits.
