As China has embraced the dual-circulation development pattern, a new paradigm where the domestic and international economic circulations will be in a symbiotic relationship, with the domestic circulation as the mainstay, the Chinese economy and the world economy can be further accelerated.
China now emphasizes the importance of domestic economic circulation simply because its economic size is super-large with super-high potential for domestic demand. A strong Chinese economy, given its size relative to the global economy, is also good for the world.
Consumption has become the major driving force of economic growth in China. In 2010, consumption accounted for 49.3 percent of the country’s aggregate GDP, while the share increased to 55 percent in 2016, and further rose to 55.8 percent in 2019, with a slight decrease to 54.3 percent in 2020 due to the pandemic.
From the perspective of international economic circulation, the Chinese economy has been positively supporting the global economic growth mainly from two dimensions. On the one hand, Chinese imports and ODI keep growing steadily (though there has been a slight slowdown in 2020); on the other hand, Chinese exports and the continuous inflows of FDI into the country are growing.
The BRI is an important platform for supporting the dual-circulation development pattern. China and other BRI countries have made great breakthroughs in trade, investment, and cooperation in international industrial capacity.