China's macroeconomic data signals resilient growth

Editor's note: Liu Chunsheng, a special commentator on current affairs for CGTN, is an associate professor at the Beijing-based Central University of Finance and Economics. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

China released on Monday major macroeconomic indicators for April, which fully verified the fact that the national economy is maintaining a stable and positive growth momentum. Supported by solid domestic fundamentals, economic operation keeps advancing steadily with an optimized industrial structure and burgeoning new growth drivers.

Core economic indicators remain stable

Industrial production maintained steady expansion, with cumulative added-value of major industrial enterprises rising steadily in the first four months, staying consistent with the first-quarter growth level and reflecting solid industrial recovery momentum. Domestic demand recovered in an orderly manner, with the consumption market warming up continuously and service consumption becoming a prominent growth highlight. 

Fixed-asset investment maintained its performance, while manufacturing investment and high-tech investment served as core supporting forces. Employment and consumer prices stayed stable overall, with market supply and demand being well balanced and corporate profitability gradually improving. Reasonable growth of money supply and the scale of total social financing ensured sufficient financial support for the real economy, laying a solid foundation for sustained economic recovery.

Breakthroughs in 'new quality productive forces' are accelerating

"New quality productive forces" have become the driving force for high-quality economic development, with artificial intelligence (AI) and high-end manufacturing industries achieving prominent development results. AI technologies are accelerating in commercial applications and deeply integrating across industries. Official statistics show that the scale of intelligent application scenarios keeps expanding, empowering traditional manufacturing to realize intelligent upgrading and greatly lifting production efficiency and industrial operation efficiency. 

In the services sector, intelligent services are booming, constantly spawning new business forms and consumption scenarios, effectively stimulating market consumption vitality. High-tech manufacturing maintained rapid growth, far exceeding the average industrial growth rate, continuously raising its proportion in the overall industrial economy. 

Strategic emerging industries represented by integrated circuits, aerospace equipment and intelligent equipment registered striking growth in output, output value and export volume, with independent innovation capacity and industrial chain self-control capability constantly strengthened. The digital economy kept expanding, deepening the integrated development with the real economy, while the forward-looking layout of future industries gathers long-term growth momentum for China's economic transformation and upgrading.

External environment features both opportunities and challenges

The global economy still faces slow recovery momentum, sluggish external demand and lingering geopolitical risks, bringing multiple uncertainties to China's foreign trade and cross-border economic cooperation. 

Nevertheless, positive changes have taken place in China-US economic and trade relations. 

US President Donald Trump's recent visit to China is of great significance. It sends positive signals for the stable development of China‑US economic and trade relations and injects certainty into the external environment for China's economy. During the visit, the two heads of state held in‑depth discussions on economic and trade issues, achieving generally balanced and positive outcomes. They agreed to establish a Trade Council and an Investment Council, and to promote the expansion of two‑way trade within a framework of reciprocal tariff reductions. This has stabilized bilateral economic and trade ties and anchored market expectations.

US business leaders accompanying Trump unanimously expressed optimism about opportunities in the Chinese market and a strong willingness to deepen practical cooperation with China, which is conducive to China's efforts to attract foreign investment and expand international market access. This helps mitigate risks from global industrial chain restructuring and fosters a stable external environment for China's high‑quality economic development.

Driven by the improved bilateral relations, China's foreign trade shows strong resilience, with the export structure continuously optimizing and high-value-added high-tech products becoming the main growth pillar of foreign trade. Meanwhile, China continues to push forward a market diversification strategy, deepen economic and trade ties with Belt and Road partner countries, effectively disperse external market risks and consolidate the stable foundation of foreign trade development.

Economic outlook for second quarter

Looking ahead to the second quarter, China's economy will firmly continue the sound growth trend of the first quarter. Domestic demand will further pick up with the continuous release of consumption potential and the steady progress of major investment projects. Policies targeting stable growth, industrial upgrading and technological innovation will continuously unleash policy dividends, further activate market entities' development vitality. "New quality productive forces" will maintain rapid expansion momentum and continuously inject endogenous impetus into economic growth. 

While seizing favorable internal and external development opportunities, China will also stay alert to various potential economic risks, adhere to expanding domestic demand as the core, accelerate industrial structure adjustment, consolidate economic recovery achievements and lay a solid foundation for realizing the annual economic development goals and promoting sustained and sound high-quality economic development.