Confident tones in bruised Beijing

Agencies and staff reporter

Beijing said yesterday the country has the confidence, ability and conditions to drive its economy to recover despite difficulties.

A National Development and Reform Commission official said the country's recovery remains complicated given that China must grapple with shrinking demand, supply-chain shocks and turbulence in the global economy.

But it would take steps to grow the scale and scope of investment over the coming months, particularly from foreign investors, which should be guided into the advanced manufacturing and services sectors, as well as pursuing developments in new technologies, energy conservation and environmental protection.

It approved 1.48 trillion yuan (HK$1.71 trillion) worth of fixed asset investment projects last year, nearly double the value from the previous year. A total of 109 projects were approved last year and they were predominantly in transportation, energy, water conservation, and information technology industries.

China has been stepping up spending on infrastructure projects to prop up growth, with last year's

3 percent expansion one of its worst levels in nearly a century.

Goldman Sachs has lifted China's growth forecast to 5.5 percent from 5.2 percent after Beijing reported stronger-than-expected economic data and the recovery gathers pace.

Goldman's economists said it was "very surprising" that the official data for last month was not worse, given a Covid surge and broad-based labor shortages.

Still, the property sector was one of the biggest drags on the economy last year. The sector fell 5.1 percent, according to National Bureau of Statistics yesterday.

The news came as Vice Premier Liu He said in a meeting with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in Zurich the two countries need "serious communication" and coordination on issues such as climate change and the economy and that he was ready for an in-depth exchange.

The Treasury hinted later that plans are under way for Yellen and her counterparts in China to hold meetings this year in Beijing and Washington, continuing the two governments' efforts to ramp up face-to-face engagement between senior officials.