BUENOS AIRES, Jan.18 (Xinhua) – China closed 2020 with a positive result and an optimal recovery in the economic field thanks to good management of the crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic, permanent planning and a commitment to multilateralism, according to the Argentine economist and sinologist Gustavo Girado.
The director of the postgraduate course on Contemporary China Studies at the National University of Lanús (UNLA) highlighted the 2.3 percent year-on-year growth in Chinese GDP after posting a 6.5 percent year-on-year increase in the fourth quarter.
“It is a fact that clearly shows that planning is very necessary in a world so unbalanced and with so many difficulties to organize its operation. This growth is remarkable because, in the midst of the crisis, while some economies closed to save themselves autonomously, China and other countries made global commitments, “he said in an interview with Xinhua.
With this information, “China reaffirms its will to maintain global dynamics and its commitment to the rest of the world,” he continued.
Girado indicated that the increase in the level of GDP is explained by the measures of the Chinese Government aimed at stimulating aggregate demand “on the side of consumption, domestic investment, and not so much from the external sector.”
“China has grown especially in the last two quarters of last year, because it applied many of these policies to stimulate local investment and domestic consumption instead of rebuilding global value chains that depended in turn on the recomposition in the level of activity from North America and the European Union, something that has not happened, “he said.
He added that despite the closure of cities and provinces, the Asian country managed not to stop the consumption, distribution or marketing of products within the country, while protecting the income of families.
“China was able to maintain that, and after a very negative first quarter, it was highly likely that the country would start to rebuild its activity for the second,” he said.
The economist highlighted measures by the Chinese government in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as increased fiscal spending, tax breaks, cuts in credit rates and public investment plans.
“The public investment plans that have gained notoriety with the railways are noteworthy, also with the distribution of products through the marketing chains that go along the routes, which are also part of the Belt and Road Initiative, achieving connect with central and western China, the areas where per capita income is lower, “he said.
“Domestic aero-commercial services were also stimulated and not so much international ones, there is also a lot of investment related to construction that had a very special stimulus,” said the also professor at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA).
For Girado, if this rate of recovery is maintained, towards the end of 2021 the world could see another rebound in the Asian country’s economy, driven, above all, by a “good handling of the pandemic, for which China has developed special capabilities “.
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