Opinion

1. Economic globalization: The inescapable trajectory of human civilization

China has always been an active participant, staunch supporter, and important contributor to economic globalization, adhering to a mutually beneficial and win-win opening-up strategy. China is continuously promoting trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, advancing beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, and expanding common development through openness. Looking ahead to the future, China will also work with all parties to follow the trend of historical development, firmly oppose economic bullying and trade protectionism, embrace economic globalization, and promote the international community to achieve common development and prosperity.

2. Enhancing residents' property income through multiple measures

China recently made public a plan on special initiatives to boost consumption, as the world's second-largest economy moves to make domestic demand the main engine and anchor of economic growth. The plan, issued by the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council, proposes to broaden the channels of property income, including taking multiple measures to stabilize the stock market, strengthening the reserves of strategic forces, and building mechanisms for market stability. To boost consumption, the first step is to increase residents' income. Taking property income as an important pivot to stimulate consumption and stabilizing the stock market as a lever to increase property income is conducive to promoting residents' income growth and fully unleashing great consumption vitality.

Policy

1. China's State Council Information Office on April 4 released a white paper titled "China's Position on Some Issues Concerning China-U.S. Economic and Trade Relations." The Chinese government issued the document to clarify the facts about China-U.S. economic and trade relations, and elaborate the position of the Chinese side on relevant issues.

2. The China Banking Association and the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce jointly issued a proposal recently, urging efforts to promote healthy and high-quality development of the private sector, and calling on the country's banking financial institutions to use more concrete measures to enhance services for private enterprises.

3. The Chinese central government will continue to support urban renewal projects this year, focusing on addressing the pressing concerns of the people and driving high-quality urban development, the Ministry of Finance announced on April 8. According to a statement on the ministry's website, the government will explore ways to establish a sustainable urban renewal mechanism, tackle gaps and weaknesses in urban infrastructure, and boost the construction of consumption-oriented infrastructure. In 2025, financial support for urban renewal will target large cities and metropolises, with no more than 20 cities selected.

Data

1. China's foreign exchange reserves have remained above USD 3.2 trillion for 16 straight months, data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed on April 7. The reserves amounted to USD 3.24 trillion at the end of March, up by USD 13.4 billion, or a 0.42-percent rise, from the previous month.

2. According to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, China's domestic attractions recorded about 126 million tourist visits during the Qingming Festival holiday, marking a year-on-year growth of 6.3 percent. Domestic tourism revenue reached RMB 57.549 billion, up 6.7 percent year on year, as travelers embraced traditional cultural events and short getaways.

3. Innovation drives new productive forces. In the first quarter of 2025, the sales revenue of China's high-tech industry grew 13.4 percent year on year, maintaining robust momentum. The sales revenue in digital product manufacturing and digital technology application sectors rose 12 percent and 11.6 percent year on year, respectively, reflecting deeper integration of digital and real economies. Sales revenue in scientific research and IT services surged 19.6 percent and 11.4 percent year on year, respectively.

4. A 2025 survey by the China Consumers Association revealed that 22.1 percent of respondents expected AI products and application scenarios to become a major driver of service consumption in the coming year.

5. In December 2024, approximately 249 million people in China reported that they had used generative AI products, accounting for 17.7 percent of the population. This surge in public engagement reflects the technology's growing presence in everyday digital life, as the 55th Statistical Report on China's Internet Development showed.

6. The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Index stood at 89.8 in the first quarter of 2025, the highest since 2020, a report from the the China Association of Small and Medium Enterprises showed.

7. The growth in core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices and is deemed a better gauge of the supply-demand relationship in the economy, rose by 0.5 percent year on year in March, indicating policies aimed at boosting consumer demand started to take effect, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

8. China's manufacturing sector maintained steady growth in the first quarter of 2025, according to the latest value-added tax invoice data released by the State Taxation Administration. Sales revenue in the sector rose 4.8 percent year on year, contributing 29.1 percent of national sales, up 0.8 percentage points from last year, reinforcing its role as an important pillar of sustainable economic development.

9. China will increase financial support for the construction of about 100 outdoor sports destinations by 2030 in a bid to promote high-quality development of the sports industry, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

10. In the first two months of 2025, the added value of China's SMEs above designated size rose 7.5 percent year on year. Focusing on high-end and intelligent development, SMEs are now positioned as key players in fostering new quality productive forces.

(Source: Economic Daily)