Overseas financial institutions have expressed their confidence in the prospects of China’s economy, as the country’s high-quality growth efforts are gradually paying off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that China’s gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 5 percent year-on-year in the first half of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On a seasonally adjusted basis, GDP grew 0.7 percent in the second quarter, marking the eighth consecutive quarter of positive growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Chinese economy’s comparative advantage largely comes from research and innovation, said Wu Yibing, head of China for Singapore’s state investment company Temasek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the past, China’s strength in manufacturing was usually attributed to its abundant labor force and high production efficiency, said Wu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the first half of the year, the country’s value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, increased by 6 percent year-on-year, according to the NBS data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A breakdown of the data shows that the output of the equipment manufacturing sector, which took up one-third of the overall industrial output, climbed 7.8 percent in the period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The high-tech manufacturing industry also posted strong growth, with its output up 8.7 percent in the first half, according to the NBS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The country’s production of service robots, smartphones, and new energy vehicles surged 22.8 percent, 11.8 percent, and 34.3 percent, respectively, in the first six months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bloomberg said in a report on July 16 that China’s long-term quest for high-quality growth is starting to bear fruit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Advances in electric vehicles, solar panels, and other high-tech industries have helped keep economic expansion within reach of its targeted pace of around 5 percent,” said the report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Apart from industrial output and high-end manufacturing, investment and exports are also seen as the highlights of China’s economy by the institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The effects of large-scale equipment upgrades and trade-in of consumer goods continue to manifest, driving effective investment along with the issuance of local government special bonds and ultra-long special treasury bonds, said Ji Mo, chief China economist of DBS Group Research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Data shows that China’s investment in infrastructure construction during the January-June period rose 5.4 percent from the previous year, while manufacturing investment increased 9.5 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The country’s net exports of goods and services drove GDP growth by 0.7 percentage points in the same period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
China has become increasingly important as a major global supplier of goods, and has continued to expand its market share despite trade restriction measures, said Liu Jing, chief economist for Greater China at HSBC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The accelerated development of new quality productive forces, the continuous release of policy effects, and the recovery of external demand have supported China’s economy, but further reform and opening-up is needed in the face of challenges such as insufficient effective demand and a complex external environment, multiple experts from the overseas financial institutions have said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n