Opinion | China’s resurgent economic growth will be a boon to the world in 2023

China’s GDP expanded by 3 per cent year on year in 2022 – better than many major economies – and climbed above the 120 trillion yuan (US$17.8 trillion) mark for the first time as the economy navigated rough waters throughout the year and overcame headwinds from the Covid-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions.

Looking to 2023, China’s economy will see a robust improvement as the better-than-expected, hard-won growth from last year has demonstrated its resilience. With strong positive signals seen in China’s market and policies in recent weeks, the nation’s dual role as a stabiliser and locomotive of the global economy has been further highlighted.

China’s reopening has fuelled optimism over global growth. The seven-day Lunar New Year holiday saw the country’s pent-up travel demand unleashed, with vast numbers of tourists again seen across the country and overseas. A total of 308 million domestic trips were made during the week, almost 90 per cent of the 2019 figure, before the pandemic began. Outbound flight bookings rose 6.7 times over the 2022 level.

About 90 per cent of Chinese cinemas have reopened, and box office takings during the holiday reached more than 6.7 billion yuan, the second-highest gross figure for the holiday to date. China’s January box office takings topped 10 billion yuan, a record high for the month. Restaurants also witnessed a more than 50 per cent rise in customers year on year during the Spring Festival holiday.

As inflation issues loom larger in developed markets, there is an increasingly prevalent view that China’s economic growth will be the main hedge against the risk of a global economic recession.