(Xinhua) DATA from the National Bureau of Statistics on Friday showed that for all the shocks and headwinds China has encountered recently, especially during the second quarter, the GDP of the world’s second-largest economy, nonetheless, expanded 2.5 per cent in the first half of this year, with the second quarter achieving a positive growth of 0.4 per cent.

With the mounting headwinds like COVID-19 resurgences and rampant inflation, many major economies have been caught off guard. The U.S. consumer price index (CPI), in June, marked the largest 12-month increase since November 1981, and inflation for the Eurozone hit a record high of 8.6 per cent in the year to June. Many experts warned that both economies are “increasingly likely” to slide into recession.

Yet in the face of those downward pressures, China’s economy still showed strong resilience and great potential, and has largely kept its consumer prices stable. China’s factory-gate inflation has eased for the sixth straight month, and its major economic indicators bounced back in June.

As an open economy, China gains much of its economic strength from foreign trade. Data from the General Administration of Customs showed that foreign trade growth accelerated to 14.3 per cent in June. From January to June, China’s foreign goods trade jumped 9.4 per cent year on year to 19.8 trillion yuan (about 2.94 trillion U.S. dollars).

Temporary shocks due to resurgences of the COVID-19 pandemic inflicted pain upon the country’s economy earlier this year when China enforced a dynamic zero-COVID approach to contain the virus and save lives.

“China has adopted an effective approach to combat the epidemic,” said Wolfram Elsner, a professor of economics at the University of Bremen in Germany, adding: “this is illustrated by the recent rapid growth in the economic figures.” China has been able to implement resolute anti-COVID measures “followed by a rapid push to resume work and production,” he said.

As consumer spending has gradually warmed up, China’s vast domestic market has played a vital role in helping cushion the effects of any downward pressure.
People visit a commercial area in Haidian District of Beijing, capital of China, July 16, 2022.

Recent data showed that as a pillar of the Chinese economy, the automobile market has seen a robust recovery. A total of 2.5 million vehicles were sold in June, up 23.8 per cent year on year and 34.4 per cent month on month.

China has a solid foundation for further economic growth due to its large population and domestic demand, which allows the economy to remain reasonably stable in the long run, said Sergei Lukonin, head of the Department of Economics and Politics of China at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences