The 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum commenced in Davos, Switzerland, on Monday. The high-profile gathering is scheduled to continue until Friday.

China continues to be a key participant in this conference. Premier Li Qiang attended the annual event and delivered a speech. Several prominent Chinese entrepreneurs and leading experts participated in the sub-forums, offering valuable insights into the outlook of the Chinese economy.

Chinese economy remains resilient

Experts and business leaders expressed confidence in the strong growth of the Chinese economy. The newly released data by the National Bureau of Statistics shows that the Chinese economy beats growth target with its gross domestic product (GDP) growing 5.2% year on year to 126.06 trillion yuan (US$17.71 trillion).

People attend the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2024 in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 15, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

"The growth of 5.2% shows the resilience of the Chinese economy," Zhu Min, an eminent economist and vice chairman of China Center for International Economic Exchanges, said at a panel themed on "Recharging Growth in China" on Wednesday.

Zhu stated that the Chinese economy is currently facing cyclical challenges following several decades of robust growth. Due to a range of factors such as an aging population and lower productivity, China's economic growth seems to be slowing, Zhu said. 

But Zhu shared a study he conducted several years ago, which had anticipated that the growth rate of the Chinese economy would stabilize at around 4.5% by this time. Nevertheless, the performance of the Chinese economy has exceeded his earlier expectations, he said. 

Jia Shaoqian, chairman of Hisense Group, a leading Chinese company in the home appliances sector, noted that the 5.2% growth rate represents a robust economy. He attributed the growth to China's favorable policies, sound business environment, and efforts in further opening-up.

Seeking new growth engines

Despite the steady economic growth, experts in attendance also warned of difficulties and challenges.

Zhu noted that contributions from the three traditional pillars of the Chinese economy – infrastructure investment, real estate, and exports – have diminished over time. He suggested that the focus should now shift toward cultivating new growth engines, specifically emphasizing domestic consumption, digitalized manufacturing, and the transition to carbon neutrality.

This photo taken on Nov. 4, 2023 shows a city view of Shanghai, east China. [Photo/Xinhua]

Zhu recommended that the government raises social security expenditures through fiscal policies or increasing people's salaries, so as to spur spending among the public. The most recent data showed that consumption accounted for 82.5% of China's GDP growth in 2023.

Zhu also noted that China accounted for 30% of the global manufacturing output, underscoring the sector as a primary strength of the Chinese economy. Consequently, he proposed to accelerate the digitalization of the manufacturing sector, to foster a new economic growth engine.

Kevin Rudd, Australian ambassador to the U.S. and former prime minister of Australia, dismissed the "peak China" narrative, an idea that the Chinese economy, having reached its peak, is bound to slow down and deteriorate.

He argued that the "untapped potential" of Chinese consumer demand was "the best guarantor of China's economic future," adding that "the scale of the Chinese consumer market is unprecedented in global economic history."

Rudd emphasized the importance of enhancing confidence among Chinese consumers, pointing to further improvement in wage policy, taxation policy, and social provisions.