What topics of China's 'two sessions' command global attention?

With China's "two sessions" around the corner, the global community has once again turned its eyes towards some of the hot-button topics expected to be discussed over the coming days.

This year's version is of special relevance, as 2023 marks the first year for China to fully implement the guiding principles of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

More importantly, how China will get off to a good start and provide the world with new opportunities through its own development has captured global attention.

BOOSTING GLOBAL RECOVERY

At a time when the world economy is still plagued with growing and overlapping uncertainties and risks, China's economic recovery has become the sliver lining of the prolonged global recession.

During the Spring Festival holiday, China witnessed a booming domestic market and expanding consumption in various sectors. International institutions like the International Monetary Fund have raised China's growth expectations, and multinational companies have increased investment in China.

China is arguably the only major economy set anticipated to see faster economic growth this year, Yi David Wang, chief China economist at Credit Suisse Group AG, told Xinhua.

An accelerated recovery of the Chinese economy has sent a positive signal to the world, and gives more reasons for observers to be confident in a stronger economic outlook.

After China optimized its COVID response, cross-border movements of personnel and materials are returning to normal, which will significantly improve global expectations for the stability of China's industrial and supply chains, Ding Ke, senior research fellow at the Institute of Developing Economies of the Japan External Trade Organization, told Xinhua in a written interview.

The rapid growth of digital economy, new energy and other emerging industries will equally bring greater dynamism for China's economic development, he added.

Such a good start, stemming from the fundamentals supporting China's steady economic growth, sheds light on the country's economic resilience, potential and vitality.

Given the fact that China is the world's second-largest consumer market and the largest trader of goods, the international community expects China to further consolidate its economic comeback and continue to inject confidence, stability and vitality into the global economic recovery.

"China will undoubtedly continue to be an important 'engine' for world economic growth," said Liang Guoyong, a senior economist with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Focusing on economic policies expected at the "two sessions," Liang believes a rational use of macroeconomic policy tools will play a more active role in promoting China's economic growth.

For other economies, China's expanding import demand means new trade opportunities, and the surge in outbound trips by Chinese tourists will also give a boost to the global service industry, he said.

Khairy Tourk, a professor of economics with the Stuart School of Business at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, said that the swelling consumption market in China entails "a tremendous demand for new products, say refrigerators, the durable goods, housing that kind of thing."

"My expectations in the short term is that property market will gradually rejuvenate, and foreign direct investment to continue, it is growth unabated," he added.