'Abundant Opportunities Ahead For China's Economy'

The nation's economy will see more opportunities than challenges in the future, officials said on Monday in the first press conference for the Communist Party of China’s 20th National Congress.

It comes after President Xi Jinping said China is pursuing high-quality economic development, and that authorities will fully apply the “new development philosophy on all fronts”, in a speech opening the 20th congress on Sunday.

“There are indeed some difficulties and challenges in the Chinese economy, but there are more opportunities,” Zhao Chenxin, a vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, told Monday's press conference.

Zhao was responding to a question on whether the country could reach its goal of 5.5 percent economic growth for 2022.

“We need to be clear-eyed that, confronted with greater-than-expected shocks and impacts, the Chinese economy has stabilised and recovered in a relatively short period of time, demonstrating strong resilience and enormous potential,” Zhao said.

He pointed out that China has the world’s largest middle-income group and a massive market, adding the country has a full-fledged industrial system and industrial chain.

“All these basic conditions provide enormous opportunities and a broad market space for enterprises of various types.

“My impression is that in China – which enjoys social stability and a continued economic and social development – development opportunities and business opportunities are everywhere.”

In his speech on Sunday, Xi, the president and party general secretary, said the world's second-largest economy had enjoyed historic growth in the past decade, with its GDP rising from 54 trillion yuan to 114 trillion yuan and its share of the global economy climbing from 11.3 percent to 18.5 percent.

He said China will strive towards a high-standard socialist market economy.

"We will work to see that the market plays the decisive role in resource allocation and that the government better plays its role," Xi said.