Members of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) from different sectors are seeing vitality in China's economy.
"The country's new energy sector is developing so fast and China is vigorously promoting its integrated development with other industries, such as transportation and construction," said Song Hailiang, chairman of the China Energy Engineering Corporation Limited, at the Members' Corridor at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Saturday.
He said China is promoting integration in four areas: cross-border integration between industries, mutual integration within the industrial chain, integrated development of production factors, and integration across borders and regions.
"The integrated development of energy resources is not a simple addition, but can achieve the effect that one plus one is greater than two," Song said.
In 2022, China's consumer industries and other economic sectors were hit hard by the COVID-19 epidemic.
Ding Zuohong, a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and chairman of Yuexing Group, at the Members' Corridor at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, March 11, 2023. /Xinhua
"The government promptly introduced a series of policies to promote consumption, which strongly stabilized the fundamentals of the market," Ding Zuohong, chairman of Yuexing Group, said at the Members' Corridor.
During this year's Spring Festival holidays, 226 million trips were made on China's transportation system, up 71.2 percent year on year.
"In my opinion, the flow of people represents the flow of information and consumption," Ding said.
He noted that data from shopping malls this year shows that sales of retail clothing, shoes and hats, furniture, and home appliances have rebounded strongly, which proves that the policies launched by the government in time have started to take effect.
Huangfu Yichuan, a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and a researcher at the China Film Art Research Center, at the "Members' Corridor" at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, March 11, 2023. /Xinhua
The film market has also seen vitality in 2023. Huangfu Yichuan, a researcher at the China Film Art Research Center, said that the box office surpassed 10 billion yuan (about $1.4 billion) on the last day of January, setting a new record of 10-billion-yuan box office in the shortest time of a year in the Chinese film market.
The building of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, a major trade channel between western Chinese provinces and ASEAN countries, enters its sixth year in 2023. Wei Zhaohui, director-general and party secretary of the Guangxi International Expo Affairs Bureau, said the transport network of the corridor now covers 393 ports in 119 countries and regions.
"The trade channel connects China and ASEAN countries with the shortest time, the best service and the best price," she said at the Members' Corridor.
The China-ASEAN Expo has been successfully held 19 times, attracting more than 1.1 million exhibitors from over 40 countries and serving the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, which benefits two billion people.
"The expo has facilitated the construction of major projects such as the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor and created new development opportunities for businesses and people of all countries," Wei said.
(Cover image: Members of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference at the "Members' Corridor" at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, March 11, 2023. /CFP)