This aerial photo taken on Jan. 17, 2023, shows a morning view of Jingtang Port Area at Tangshan Port in Tangshan, north China's Hebei Province. (Photo by Liu Mancang/Xinhua)
BEIJING – In its three-year-long fight against Covid-19, China posted outstanding results in economic development and epidemic control, reinforcing its status as a leading engine for the global economy.
Yuan Da, director of the Department of National Economy of the National Development and Reform Commission, said Monday from 2020 to 2022, China's economy posted an annual average growth of 4.5 percent, outpacing the world average of around 2 percent.
In 2022, the economy grew 3 percent year on year to a record high of 121 trillion yuan (about 18 trillion U.S. dollars), with an increment standing at 6.1 trillion yuan, equivalent to the economic aggregate of a medium-sized country.
It also marks a new and higher level in terms of economic aggregate after the Chinese economy topped the thresholds of 100 trillion yuan (14.8 trillion U.S dollars) and 110 trillion yuan (16.3 trillion U.S dollars) in 2020 and 2021, respectively – keeping its position as the world's second-largest economy.
Analysts attributed the hard-won results to the country's effective coordination in fighting Covid-19 and its economic fallouts simultaneously.
China’s economy has quickly emerged from the epidemic-induced slump and has consolidated its recovery momentum for a brighter outlook which has been attributed to the government’s effective virus control and timely pro-growth policies.
Curbing the virus
To cope with the constantly evolving epidemic situation, China has been dynamically optimizing its control measures while enhancing the treatment and vaccination capacity, effectively safeguarding the lives and health of its 1.4 billion population at minimum costs.
As of Jan. 13, 92.9 percent of the Chinese population has been fully vaccinated, with more than 90 percent of people above 60 covered by vaccination.
With Omicron much less pathogenic and deadly, China, in December last year, announced ten new measures to lift numerous Covid-19 restrictions. On Jan. 8, its management of Covid-19 was officially downgraded from Class A to Class B.
Less than one month after the optimization of Covid-19 response measures in December 2022, China reported declining numbers of fever patients and critical Covid-19 cases as both had passed the peak.
Economic resilience
In the just-concluded Spring Festival holiday, China's consumption made a strong comeback.
Wen Bin, the chief economist with China Minsheng Bank, said warming demand at home would propel the turnaround in the Chinese economy this year and estimated the country's full-year GDP growth at around 5.5 percent.
Aside from the overall economic growth, China also made significant headway in maintaining consumer price stability, guaranteeing food and energy security and improving people's livelihoods. (Xinhua)
