Boao forum sees China driving global growth

With China as a key growth engine, Asia will play a crucial role in bolstering the world's economic growth this year, given the Chinese government's strong policy support, a key report published on Tuesday stated.

While facing pressures from a gloomy global outlook and mounting uncertainties, China's economic growth will likely hit a relatively high level this year, sending a positive signal to the rest of Asia and the globe, the flagship report from the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2024 said.

Themed "Asia and the World: Common Challenges, Shared Responsibilities", the four-day event kicked off on Tuesday in Boao, a coastal town in South China's Hainan province.

Asia stands as a cornerstone for global economic growth in the post-COVID-19 era, playing an important role in advancing equitable and orderly multipolarity and inclusive economic globalization, said Li Baodong, secretary-general of the Boao Forum for Asia.

"Asia will continue to remain the largest contributor to global economic growth (this year)," he told a news conference on Tuesday in Boao. "The Chinese economy enjoys strong resilience and great potential, becoming a major pillar of sustainable global development in the post-pandemic era."

According to the report, the weighted real GDP growth rate of Asia in 2024 is expected to be 4.5 percent, given the emerging macro policy effectiveness of China and major economies to boost demand and economic growth.

Dora Liu, deputy CEO and chief quality and transformation officer of market consultancy Deloitte China, said, "Asian economies have their unique advantages and prowess in key technologies and have a broad prospect in such applications."

Liu said that in many Asian markets, technologies related to new energy, like photovoltaics, wind power and energy storage, are accelerating iterations, thanks to policies, capital and applications.

In clean power, for instance, more than half of the global investment in the sector came from Asia last year, Liu said. "Asian countries, as a whole, are expected to bring safer, more economical and more efficient energy solutions to the world."

The report highlighted China's key role in supporting both Asia and the world's economic growth. It said the country's GDP growth this year will likely reach 5 percent, the target for the year.

"On the one hand, the factors that constrain China's economic growth will change in 2024 … On the other hand, the factors supporting China's economic growth will continue in 2024, including relaxed fiscal and monetary policies," the Boao report said.

The Chinese government, it said, has rolled out a series of policies to support real estate development, which will help restore consumer confidence under the investment and wealth effects of upstream and downstream industries.

On the export front, the report estimated that China will maintain its status as the world's largest automobile exporter, a tag it gained for the first time last year.

Zafar Uddin Mahmood, policy advisor to the BFA's secretary-general and president of the Understanding China Forum, expressed strong optimism about China's economic prospects this year.

He said he believes China's economy will expand by over 5 percent this year, remaining a key driver of the world's economic growth. "It's a very positive sign for the whole world's economy. I'm sure it'll play a very important role in further developing the global economy."

Dismissing speculation that China has reached its peak in terms of GDP, he said that for a huge economy like China, maintaining a growth rate of around 5 percent would be remarkable.

Looking ahead, he said there remains huge room for China's high-quality development in the future, marked by years of sustainable growth.