China’s development trend in the past year has been stable, and this should continue well into 2023, says Henry Tang Ying-yen, a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference — the nation’s top political consultative body.
He was responding to Premier Li Keqiang’s Government Work Report at the opening of the first session of the 14th National People’s Congress in Beijing on Sunday.
“Stability” is one of Tang’s major takeaways from the premier’s work report, which touched on three areas — employment, economic growth and inflation.
“It’s very important that China has maintained a low inflation rate in the past few years,” he said, despite a fraught global economy and supply chains being severely disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as political turmoil.
At an online meeting with the media on Sunday, Tang described the nation’s target of 5 percent GDP growth set by Li as a “realistic” estimate, and is a “reasonable and achievable” objective.
He also considered the estimate to be very feasible and attainable for the country in keeping inflation low at 3 percent despite the surge in global inflation last year. “I still believe that China will become the strongest and biggest growth engine in the world economy.”
“So, I hope to see that, with the 5 percent growth target, foreign investors will find China a very attractive market for future growth and development. I believe that most global investors are well aware of the tremendous investment opportunities up for grabs on the Chinese mainland,” said Tang.
He exalted the central government’s commitment to optimizing the nation’s foreign investment ecosystem by expanding market access and creating 21 pilot free trade zones across the country.
While welcoming Li’s call for doubling down on efforts to attract foreign investment, Tang proposed introducing a Qualified Foreign Limited Partnership program to smoothen foreign investors’ entry into the Chinese market.
“Now, they’re using different proxies for investments, but I think the QFLP would greatly increase the nation’s potential to attract more foreign capital,” he said. The program would also be a boon for innovation and technology startups, as well as emerging companies that seek badly needed economic support without having to go public.
jenny@chinadailyhk.com