On February 4, Chinese Ambassador to Iran Chang Hua published a signed article in Iran's Tehran Times titled "China is the Biggest Engine of Global Economic Growth". The full text is as follows:
In 2023, under the situation of the world economic downturn and the increasing complexity, severity and uncertainty of the external environment, China's economy will forge ahead in overcoming difficulties, the national economy will rebound, high-quality development will be solidly promoted, and the main expected goals will be successfully achieved, with the gross domestic product (GDP) exceeding 126 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 52%。Recently, many international institutions, including the International Monetary Organization and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, have raised their forecasts for China's economic growth and are optimistic about China's economic growth momentum in 2024. It is widely believed that China is the biggest engine of global economic growth.
China's economic fundamentals are stable and improving. China insists on not engaging in strong stimulus and does not exchange short-term growth for accumulating long-term risks, and its economy is extremely resilient and maintains a long-term positive momentum. From the perspective of factor endowment, China's "demographic dividend" is increasing to "talent dividend", and the total number of human resources, scientific and technological human resources, and R&D personnel rank first in the world. China has abundant capital factors, and its annual share of global capital formation has increased to 30%. From the perspective of industrial base, China is the only country with all the industrial categories in the United Nations Industrial Classification, and is forming more than 200 mature industrial clusters, and the scale of manufacturing industry has ranked first in the world for 13 consecutive years. According to the World Bank, China currently accounts for 28 percent of global manufacturing output7% (16 in the United States.)8%), the added value of manufacturing accounts for 30% of the world, about the "G7" combined. In 2023, China's auto exports will surpass Japan's, becoming the world's largest auto exporter for the first time. From the perspective of domestic demand potential, China's middle-income group exceeds 400 million, and will reach 800 million in the next ten years, and nearly 300 million agricultural migrants are accelerating the process of urbanization, which will bring huge consumer demand and strong consumption upgrading momentum in housing, education, medical care, pension and other aspects.
China's economic innovation capacity is constantly improving. China's R&D investment and investment in high-tech industries have maintained double-digit growth for many years, with the number of patent applications currently ranking first in the world, the number of high-tech enterprises increasing to about 400,000, and the number of unicorn enterprises ranking second in the world. China's industrial optimization and upgrading has achieved remarkable results, and it is climbing to the mid-to-high-end value chain. Among the 153 "lighthouse factories" released by the World Economic Forum that represent the highest level of intelligent manufacturing in the world, China has 62, accounting for more than 40%. According to the World Intellectual Property Organization's 2023 Global Innovation Index Report, China's innovation index ranking has risen to 12th, and the number of science and technology clusters has 24, ranking first. The size of China's digital economy is expected to exceed $15 trillion by 2027. China is deepening its green and low-carbon transition. In 2022, the investment in energy transition will reach 546 billion US dollars, four times that of the United States, and will form a huge development increment in the fields of green infrastructure, green energy, green transportation, and green life, and the market size is expected to reach 10 trillion yuan per year. According to the statistics of the General Administration of Customs, in 2023, the total export of China's "new three" products (new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaic products) will exceed the trillion yuan mark for the first time, an increase of 299%。Oxford Economics** said that China's emerging industries and high-tech manufacturing will continue to expand rapidly in 2024.
China's economy has made outstanding contributions to the world economy. China has become a major partner of more than 140 countries and regions, and the overall tariff level has been reduced to 73%。In the past five years, the rate of return on foreign direct investment in China has been about 9%, which is at a relatively high level in the world. According to the report of the International Finance Forum, China's contribution to world economic growth in 2023 will be 32%, and it will still be the largest driver of global economic growth (11% in the United States). International Monetary Organization (IMO) Managing Director Georgieva said that every 1% growth in China's economy will increase the level of production in other economies by an average of 03%。The RAND Corporation of the United States reported that China has become the world's largest international development finance country, providing about 1 million projects for more than 20,000 projects in 165 low- and middle-income countries this centuryWith $34 trillion in loans and grants, China's state-owned banks and companies finance development projects nearly six times as much as the United States.
The year 2023 is a year of pragmatic progress in China-Iran friendship and cooperation. During the two meetings between the President and Raisi, the two heads of state reached a series of important consensus on further promoting the China-Iran comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership. China and Iran are both important developing countries and emerging economies, and occupy an important position in the international economic map. For many years, China has been Iran's largest partner and the most important export destination for Iranian goods. China has the world's largest potential market and is the largest engine of global economic growth, which will provide more development opportunities for countries around the world, including Iran. Iran is an important country in the Belt and Road Initiative, and China and Iran are both members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the BRICS cooperation mechanism, so there is great potential for cooperation between the two sides. We hope that the relevant departments of the two sides will actively promote the implementation of the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, continuously strengthen practical cooperation between the two countries in various fields, and move towards the goal of jointly building an equal, orderly, multipolar world and an inclusive and inclusive economic globalization.