By Consul General Zhao Xiuzhen
Chinese Consulate General
At the beginning of the Year of Dragon in the Chinese Lunar Calendar, greetings to all our Filipino friends in Mindanao from the Chinese Consulate General in Davao!
For some time, there has been some commentary in the international community that speaks ill of China’s economy. What is the real trend? Allow me to give a briefing to our friends in Mindanao. The past year of 2023 was a year when China defeated the pandemic and recovered its economy. Under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, the Chinese people have resolutely overcome internal and external difficulties and promoted the continued recovery of China’s economy.
In 2023, the Chinese economy achieved a year-on-year GDP growth of 5.2 per cent, outpacing most major economies. According to the World Bank, China’s economic growth in 2023 is 1.5 times that of the US, 16.5 times that of the EU. The International Monetary Fund has stated that China will remain the largest driver of global economic growth in the next five years, and every one percentage point increase in its gross domestic product (GDP) growth leads to 0.3 percentage point increase in growth in other economies. As the only country encompassing all industrial categories in the United Nations industrial classification, China contributes to around one third of world economic growth over the years. The scale of China’s manufacturing industry has ranked first in the world for 13 consecutive years.
In 2023, China has exported more than $150 billion of the “New Three” ( EVs, lithium-ion batteries, and photovoltaic products), and produced 25% of the world’s grain, 34% cars, over 50% steel and 60% household appliances. The added value of the manufacturing industry accounts for nearly 33% of the world’s total, and the export of goods accounts for 1/7 of the world’s total.
In the post-pandemic era, despite the challenging international environment, increasing uncertainty of the world economy. The past year of 2023 was a year when China defeated the pandemic and recovered its economy. Under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, the Chinese people have resolutely overcome internal and external difficulties and promoted the continued recovery of China’s economy.
In the meantime, China’s demographic dividend is turning into talent dividend, as innovation is becoming the primary driving force for development. China now ranks first in the world in terms of the size of talent pool, human resources in science and technology and the total number of researchers. A number of new pillar industries have emerged rapidly with the characteristics of high-end, intelligent and green, and China’s modern industrial system has become more complete. China has made important breakthroughs in fields such as aerospace, large aircraft manufacturing, nuclear fusion, quantum computing, life sciences, microchips, and artificial intelligence. China’s high-tech manufacturing industry has gained strong momentum and rising global influence.
Drawing our view back to Mindanao, I am happy to have witnessed the tightened cooperation here between China and the Philippines. In 2023, we jointly received the Fujian Governor’s delegation, as well as delegations from several other Chinese cities. We witnessed the resumption of direct flight from Jinjiang to Davao, and the establishment of sister-city relations between Dezhou City, Shandong Province and Davao. Many other sister city relations between Chinese and Mindanao cities are also revitalized.
Looking forward, we are confident that China will continue to open its door wider, continue to consolidate the good momentum of economic recovery, bring more benefits to the world.
On the way forward, we hope that our friends in Mindanao could find new opportunities in cooperation with China, and forge ahead towards a higher level of cooperation between China and the Philippines!
