China’s economy will prove resilient in long-term despite coronavirus impact, President Xi Jinping insists
- Chinese leader tells economic delegates at ‘two sessions’ that country has strengths that will allow it to recover after Covid-19 pandemic
- President also promises to defend globalisation despite growing support for protectionism in other parts of the world
Chinese President Xi Jinping has said the country’s economy will prove resilient in the long term, arguing that it will stand on the right side of history amid the rise of protectionism.
Xi was speaking after China’s economy suffered its heaviest blow in decades as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and the rapid slowdown in the world economy.
China’s economy contracted by 6.8 per cent in the first quarter and the International Monetary Fund has projected that the global economy will shrink by 3 per cent this year, making it the worst recession since the Great Depression in the 1930s.
Xi made the comments during a panel discussion with delegates from the economic sector of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) on Saturday.
He pointed to the advantages China’s economy enjoyed, according to state news agency Xinhua, saying: “Our country has the world’s most comprehensive and the largest scale of industrial ecosystem, with a strong manufacturing capability … [We] have over 100 million businesses, over 170 million educated and trained workers and more than 400 million middle-income earners, making up a huge domestic consumption market in a country of 1.4 billion people.
