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Good start of Chinese economy in 2023 boosts confidence of world
By He Yin, People’s Daily
China’s GDP grew 4.5 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2023, according to statistics released by the country’s National Bureau of Statistics on April 18.
The sound performance was said to be a solid start of the Chinese economy in 2023 by international community, and the world is confident about China’s long-term economic resilience and vitality. It is believed that China will continue injecting strong impetus into global recovery.
This performance was a hard-won result achieved in an external environment that was volatile and grave.
Since this year, as the country has achieved a smooth transition in COVID-19 response and front-loaded the policies to stabilize growth, employment and commodity price, it has accumulated more positive factors.
Multiple international organizations and investment institutions had lifted their forecast on China’s economic growth this year.
After the Q1 performance was released, global media outlets, seeing the energy and vitality of the Chinese economy, described it with “recovery,” “rebound,” and “prosperity.”
The encouraging momentum of rebound of the Chinese economy has laid a solid foundation for the country to achieve its annual targets. Both Citigroup and Societe Generale have raised their forecast on China’s annual growth since the release of the country’s Q1 performance. This once again indicated the recent remarks by World Bank Group President David Malpass that global growth is expected to be weak this year, but China will be an exception to the slowdown.
Consumption, one of the three major driving forces of China’s economic growth, played a prominent role in the country’s economic development in the first quarter and demonstrated the dynamic internal impetus of the Chinese economy.
China’s retail sales of consumer goods went up 5.8 percent year on year in the first quarter of this year, and the retail sales of services maintained double-digit growth in the same period. Final consumption contributed 66.6 percent to the economic growth, much higher than the whole-year figure in 2022.
The third China International Consumer Products Expo was held recently in south China’s Hainan province. Over 1,000 products under 300 global brands made their debut at the event. It fully proved that to explore the huge potential of the Chinese consumption market is a consensus of global enterprises.
China is witnessing continuous expansion of consumption scenarios, improved consumption expectation, growing market sales and obviously rebounding service consumption. An Associated Press report said that China’s economic growth is accelerating with consumption boost.
A foreign scholar noted that China’s bright economic prospects come from more flexible and higher-quality development.
Since this year, China has actively given play to the key role of investment to drive high-quality development. It expanded investment in key areas and livelihood sectors, and witnessed sound growth in manufacturing investment. In particular, the investment in high-tech manufacturing jumped 15.2 percent.
China’s commitment to high-quality development is mirrored by the country’s growing solar and wind power generating capacity as well as the soaring sales of new energy vehicles, said Chief executive officer Shakeel Ahmad Ramay of the Asian Institute of Eco-civilization Research and Development in Pakistan.
Senior executives of multinational corporations have paid frequent visits to China this year, with many enterprises announcing to expand their investment in China. In the first two months, China’s foreign direct investment, in actual use, reached $40 billion, and the figure is keeping growing.
It has become a broad consensus that advancing with China is advancing with opportunities, and investing in China is investing in the future.
The encouraging momentum of rebound of the Chinese economy has provided more opportunities for the rest of the world.
In the first quarter, China’s foreign trade of goods went up 4.8 percent year on year. In particular, trade with countries along the Belt and Road surged 16.8 percent, while that with other participating countries of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership rose 7.3 percent.
In the same period, China’s outbound shipments of solar batteries, lithium-ion batteries and electric vehicles surged 66.9 percent on a yearly basis. Cross-border e-commerce and other new businesses also saw rapid growth. This well explains the supportive role played by new drivers in the foreign trade sector.
In its latest annual trade statistics and outlook report, the WTO lifted its forecast for global trade growth in 2023 to 1.7 percent from the previous estimate of 1.0 percent, saying China is a “key factor” of this increase and the release of the demand for consumption will promote global trade growth. A Bloomberg report noted that the growth in China’s exports boosted economic prospects and suggested that global growth may be better than expected.
The good start of the Chinese economy this year once again proved that fundamentals of China’s economic growth remain unchanged, and China’s advantages of its large-scale market and complete industrial system remain unchanged.
China has the confidence and ability to sail the giant ship of the Chinese economy steadily ahead against all winds and waves, and make even greater contributions to the global economy.
By Fabian Apechihin
The 2026 Constitution Amendment Bill has moved to the state level following its consideration by the National Assembly, paving the way for state legislatures to consider the proposed amendments.
The development comes amid renewed attention on constitutional reform and ongoing discussions over proposed changes to Nigeria’s governing framework.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has defended FCT Minister Nyesom Wike over allegations surrounding borrowing by the Federal Capital Territory Administration.
House spokesperson Akin Rotimi Agbese, speaking in an interview with Channels Television, rejected claims that Wike had undertaken borrowing without the knowledge or approval of the National Assembly.
Agbese said the FCT minister could not independently create a sovereign borrowing obligation, stressing that public borrowing is subject to constitutional, statutory and administrative procedures.
“Wike has committed no infraction in borrowings. There is no basis for the allegation that he has been borrowing money behind the back of the National Assembly,” Agbese said.
He explained that borrowing to finance infrastructure was not unlawful where the required approvals and procedures had been followed.
“Borrowing for infrastructure development is not unlawful in itself, provided the prescribed approvals and procedures are followed,” he added.
The House spokesperson further argued that an increase in the FCT’s debt profile should not automatically be interpreted as evidence of illegal borrowing, citing the scale of infrastructure projects being undertaken in Abuja under Wike.
According to Agbese, the key issue is whether the appropriate approvals were obtained for specific borrowing transactions, rather than simply whether the FCT’s overall debt profile has increased.
The comments come as scrutiny continues over public borrowing, infrastructure financing and the legal procedures governing government debt at both the federal and sub-national levels.
By Fabian Apechihin
The 2026 Constitution Amendment Bill has moved to the state level following its consideration by the National Assembly, paving the way for state legislatures to consider the proposed amendments.
The development comes amid renewed attention on constitutional reform and ongoing discussions over proposed changes to Nigeria’s governing framework.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has defended FCT Minister Nyesom Wike over allegations surrounding borrowing by the Federal Capital Territory Administration.
House spokesperson Akin Rotimi Agbese, speaking in an interview with Channels Television, rejected claims that Wike had undertaken borrowing without the knowledge or approval of the National Assembly.
Agbese said the FCT minister could not independently create a sovereign borrowing obligation, stressing that public borrowing is subject to constitutional, statutory and administrative procedures.
“Wike has committed no infraction in borrowings. There is no basis for the allegation that he has been borrowing money behind the back of the National Assembly,” Agbese said.
He explained that borrowing to finance infrastructure was not unlawful where the required approvals and procedures had been followed.
“Borrowing for infrastructure development is not unlawful in itself, provided the prescribed approvals and procedures are followed,” he added.
The House spokesperson further argued that an increase in the FCT’s debt profile should not automatically be interpreted as evidence of illegal borrowing, citing the scale of infrastructure projects being undertaken in Abuja under Wike.
According to Agbese, the key issue is whether the appropriate approvals were obtained for specific borrowing transactions, rather than simply whether the FCT’s overall debt profile has increased.
The comments come as scrutiny continues over public borrowing, infrastructure financing and the legal procedures governing government debt at both the federal and sub-national levels.
By Fabian Apechihin
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has reaffirmed its intention to contest the 2027 presidential election despite the decision of Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, to support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election bid.
The party said Wike’s decision was personal and did not alter its position to participate in the presidential election with its candidate, Senator Sandy Onor. PDP National Publicity Secretary, Jungudo Haruna Mohammed, made the clarification on Wednesday.
According to the party, a recent conversation between Wike and Onor should not be interpreted as a political negotiation between the minister and the PDP.
“He told Nigerians that Sandy is his friend. And they only had a friendly discussion within the umbrella of friendship. So, that is just a personal discussion between him and his friend,” Mohammed said.
He added that Wike’s support for Tinubu did not prevent the PDP from fielding candidates for the presidential, governorship and legislative elections.
Wike had earlier clarified that his support in 2027 was specifically for Tinubu’s presidential re-election and did not amount to an agreement that the PDP would withdraw from other electoral contests. He also said he never promised that the PDP would abandon its candidates for governorship, National Assembly and State House of Assembly elections.
“I said I will support the President from day one. I never told Mr President I will join APC,” Wike said.
The minister also maintained that his proposed Rainbow Coalition was not an arrangement with the All Progressives Congress (APC), but rather a platform through which politicians from different parties could mobilise support for Tinubu’s re-election.
The issue has generated disagreement with some APC governors, who have expressed concern about a political arrangement that could affect the party’s candidates at other levels.
APC Progressive Governors’ Forum Chairman, Hope Uzodinma, said the governors would not support any alliance or arrangement that could weaken the APC or adversely affect its candidates.
Meanwhile, APC presidential campaign council spokesperson Ima Niboro has urged Wike and APC governors to end their public exchanges and concentrate on political mobilisation.
“When I said tone down the rhetoric, I do not mean stop working. Stop talking, go and work,” Niboro said.
He urged political leaders to strengthen their grassroots structures and engage directly with voters rather than continue exchanging statements in the media.
“All this shouting is not taking anybody anywhere. Go and work. Go and establish your authority on your political base,” he said.
2026 Constitution Amendment Bill Moves to States
2026 Constitution Amendment Bill Moves to States
2027: PDP Insists on Presidential Contest Despite Wike’s Support for Tinubu
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