GDP scaling 100 trillion yuan mark harbinger of greater things
According to a recent National Bureau of Statistics bulletin, China’s economic aggregate exceeded 100 trillion yuan ($15.46 billion) in 2020, with the GDP reaching 101.6 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.3 percent year-on-year, and per capita GDP exceeding $10,000 for the second consecutive year.
According to the latest data released by the US Department of Commerce, the US’ GDP in 2020 is expected to be around $20.9 trillion, and based on comparable prices, China’s GDP accounted for over 70 percent that of the US. According to the European Commission, in 2020, the economic aggregate of the European Union, excluding the United Kingdom, was around $15 trillion. Calculated at comparable prices, China’s GDP comes close.
Affected by the outbreak of the novel coronavirus and unilateralism, China’s economy suffered a sharp decline in the first quarter of 2020. Only in the second quarter did it start turning from negative to positive, making it the only major economy to register positive economic growth in 2020.
While it was not easy for China’s economy to do so well in an extraordinary year, the country should be aware that while its per capita GDP has been steadily above $10,000, it is still lower than the world average and far behind that in some developed countries. There is still a huge income gap between different people in China, and the country’s investment in education, medical care and other areas of people’s livelihood is yet to increase.
One of the most valuable lessons we have learned since reform and opening-up is that development problems must be solved through development. For China, to achieve a higher level of development and better guarantee people’s well-being, the key still lies in development.
In order to achieve sustainable development, China should try to tap the advantages of its superlarge market, promote its economic transformation and upgrading, address its economic development imbalances, and cultivate new competition advantages for its economy.
The GDP breaking the 100 trillion yuan mark will no doubt lay the foundation for China’s greater development at the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), besides attesting to its economic resilience and social governance efficiency in the face of crisis.