According to the report released by National Bureau of Statistics of China on July 15, China's gross domestic product expanded 6.3 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2019 to about 45.09 trillion yuan (roughly 6.55 trillion U.S. dollars).
Besides references that China is experiencing slow economic growth this year by Western media, there were different views from China during CGTN's Dialogue program.
“It is not surprising that China’s economic growth reached 6.3 percent”, said Andy Mok, a Senior Research Fellow from Center for China and Globalization. He further explained that GDP has been seen as a targeted number in China and the government announced earlier that the range of this year will be 6 to 6.5 percent, so the 6.3 is exactly right in the middle.
“I think it represents the global trends and the number sounds reasonable”, said Professor John Gong, from the University of International Business and Economics. The scholar also pointed out that as China’s economy grows bigger and larger, it is difficult to maintain the same growth rate. He stressed that 6.3 percent of economic growth means that is one of the fast-growing economies in the world, especially for the second-largest economy.
However, Robert Koepp, director of the Economist Corporate Network in Hong Kong, thinks China’s economy is decelerating but is still in line with expectations and not itself disruptive. He added that the uncertainty factors in the marketplace include the trade war and talked about the measures enacted in response to that.
“Yes it’s a great headline number in terms of growth, but I think there’s surprise going on of not having more growth given the stimulus measures that were taken in response to the trade headwinds”, said Koepp.
Although the GDP number has remained within the expectations, there are still some concerns over the challenges in China’s continuing transformation and further opening up.
Mok stated that one area that needs focus is the distribution of growth. He stated that the level of economic development in some cities in China have reached a certain level, but other cities still have to catch up.
On the other hand, Gong mentioned that “unemployment” will be a problem in the wake of technological changes. As the usage of robotics and AI technologies increases, he believes these technologies will replace jobs, for example factories are using more robotic settings instead of human beings.
He is also worried about the trade tensions with the U.S. will impact the Chinese economy. Even without solid statistics, he is still concerned about foreign companies in China planning to move out of the country, and he thinks that manufactures are indeed migrating from China to other developing countries.
As the report shows, China’s foreign trade rose in the first half of 2019. Mok said he isn't surprised by more foreign investments coming into China, and it also clearly shows the strength and resilience of China’s economy.
The researcher mentioned that Donald Trump's remarks on Twitter about the negotiations were very much expected, because his “twitter diplomacy” known as “trash talking” means saying something negative about the opponents in hopes to undermine their confidence or commitment to their position.
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