Int'l organizations show renewed confidence in China's growth momentum

BEIJING, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Some monthly indicators of the Chinese economy saw fluctuations or slower growth due to factors such as floods, the resurgence of local COVID-19 cases and relatively high base in 2020, leaving some western naysayers once again come to peddle that China is failing in its role as a global growth driver. But, how true is that?

In their latest global growth outlook, international organizations including the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) showed renewed confidence in the resilience and potential of the Chinese economy.

China's economy is expected to maintain recovery over the rest of 2021, bolstered by its strong exports, according to the Asian Development Outlook 2021 Update released by ADB, which projected the country's GDP to grow 8.1 percent in 2021.

Despite an increase in new COVID-19 cases, the gradual recovery in China's consumption is expected to continue, buttressed by improvements in the job market and consumer confidence, the report said.

According to the latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics, in the first eight months, the retail sales of consumer goods increased by 18.1 percent year on year.

Besides, the industrial sector has also maintained expansion. During the January-August period, the value-added industrial output, a key indicator reflecting industrial activities and economic prosperity, rose 13.1 percent year on year.

The job market of the world's second-largest economy also remained generally stable as the surveyed urban unemployment rate stood at 5.1 percent in August.

During the first eight months, 9.38 million new jobs were created in China's urban areas, achieving 85.3 percent of the annual target.

The contributions of net exports and investment to China's growth, supported by healthy trade dynamics, are also expected to increase this year, the ADB report said.

In its latest interim economic outlook, the OECD forecast that the Chinese economy is expected to grow by 8.5 percent in 2021, as in its May forecast.

The upbeat China outlook came as the Paris-based organization forecast the global economy to grow by 5.7 percent this year, 0.1 percentage points down from its May forecast.

Earlier data from the General Administration of Customs showed that in the January-August period, China's foreign trade sustained growth momentum, with total imports and exports expanding 23.7 percent year on year to 24.78 trillion yuan (about 3.8 trillion U.S. dollars).

Both exports and imports logged double-digit growth in the eight-month period, surging 23.2 percent and 24.4 percent from a year earlier, respectively.

Growth in China is projected to remain close to its pre-pandemic path, the OECD report noted, adding that commodity exporters are benefitting from high export prices and strong global demand for goods.