Opinion

Buzz around China’s reopening underscores its importance to global economy

Beijing’s vow to prioritise growth and global connections is the confidence boost the world needs

As a major source of trade and investment, and with an ever-growing circle of friends and partners, the significance of China’s return cannot be overstated

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Daryl Ng is chairman of Sino Group and the founding chairman of the Hong Kong-Asean Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation promoting and deepening ties between Hong Kong and Asean to build a community of shared future to reinforce Hong Kong’s international position and support future growth.

Published: 8:15am, 31 Jan 2023

China is reassuring the world that it is reopening, and will continue to reform. Vice-Premier Liu He, China’s economic tsar, raised the curtain on the nation’s comeback at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this month. His official affirmation heralded a return to normality, not just for China but for the global economy.

The message, delivered during Liu’s first visit to the annual summit in five years, helped to fuel a sense of optimism about the global outlook and coincided with an upwards-revised forecast for global economic performance in 2023 by the International Monetary Fund.

Investors sat up and took notice, in particular those in Hong Kong. On the last trading day of the Year of the Tiger, the Hang Seng Index jumped 393 points and closed at 22,044.65, the highest level since June 28, 2022.

Doubts about China’s direction in 2023 were laid to rest by Liu. “We will strive to maintain reasonable economic growth and keep prices and jobs stable,” he said. “More focus will be placed on expanding domestic demand, keeping supply chains stable, supporting the private sector, reforming the state-owned enterprises, attracting foreign investment, and preventing economic and financial risks.”