A series of recently-released economic barometers indicate that the Chinese economy has bounced back after having weathered shocks of the latest COVID-19 resurgence, revealing resilience and certainty in the still faltering global recovery.

"Overall, China's economy has gradually overcome the negative impact of the epidemic and showed a momentum of recovery," Fu Linghui, spokesperson for the National Bureau of Statistics, said when speaking of China's recent economic performance.

As China is bringing its economy back onto a path of stable growth, global investors and international economists have adopted a more bullish outlook for the Chinese economy, casting a vote of confidence in the world's economic thruster.

TEMPORARY SHOCKWAVES & TARGETED MEASURES

Earlier this year, as the COVID-19 resurgence weighed on some cities like Shanghai, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues casting a shadow over the world economy, China has encountered some economic headwinds.

In April, China's surveyed urban unemployment rate was 6.1 percent, up 0.3 percentage point from March. Retail sales of consumer goods went down 0.2 percent year on year in the January-April period. Its property market took a hit. Some small and medium-sized companies were confronted with difficulties.

Speaking of these temporary shockwaves, Liao Tianshu, chairman of BCG Greater China, told Xinhua that for all the challenges and risks, China's economic growth during this period of time was still in line with expectations.

"Although downward pressure has increased, the impacts are short-lived and external," she added.

To cope with the challenges and shore up growth, China's policymakers have rolled out a package of targeted measures, while resolutely pushing forward its dynamic zero-COVID approach to containing the pandemic.

With multi-pronged fiscal measures in tax and fee cuts, public budget expenditure and bond issuance, China has managed to galvanize its economic activities and spur domestic demand.

Moreover, as part of its efforts to promote the dual circulation strategy and high-quality development, it has accelerated the establishment of a unified domestic market, deepened reform and opening-up across the board, and continued innovation-driven development.

Despite downside risks, China has the policy space and capacity to respond to economic shocks, World Bank East Asia and Pacific Chief Economist Aaditya Mattoo said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

ROBUST BOUNCEBACK & RIPPLE BENEFITS

All the efforts and costs have started to pay off. The recent data from the Chinese government showed that the Chinese economy is experiencing a robust bounceback after the country has once again brought the COVID-19 pandemic largely under control.

China's foreign trade rebounded in May. Its total imports and exports went up 9.6 percent year on year to 3.45 trillion yuan (510 billion U.S. dollars) last month on top of April's 0.1-percent expansion, official data showed.

In the first five months of 2022, the country's foreign trade volume gained 8.3 percent year on year to 16.04 trillion yuan (2.39 trillion dollars), outpacing the 7.9-percent growth in the January-April period, according to the General Administration of Customs (GAC).

Official data also showed that China's value-added industrial output rose 0.7 percent year on year in May, reversing the 2.9 percent decline in April, an encouraging sign that factory activity rebounded amid work resumption.

"China is the world's largest manufacturer with the most comprehensive and resilient supply chain system, which has helped China's economy recover rapidly after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic," said Jerry Zhang, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank (China).

"This shows not only the incredible resilience of the Chinese economy, but also the wisdom of the Chinese leadership to open the way for the Chinese economy under difficult conditions," Mladen Vedris, a professor of economics at the University of Zagreb, told Xinhua.

China's growth has also injected a strong dose of vitality into global trade and growth in other parts of the world.

Once China succeeds in dealing with the "near-term headwinds in terms of COVID" and others, Gita Gopinath, the first deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said, "of course, it will remain as one of the important engines of growth."

VOTE OF CONFIDENCE FROM AROUND THE WORLD

As one of the few bright spots amid a gloomy global economic landscape, the Chinese economy has won a vote of confidence from global investors and economists with its extraordinary resilience and robust momentum.

"Global investors are returning to China's stock markets," the British newspaper Financial Times (FT) argued in a report earlier this month, adding that "now some international money managers are betting that the worst is over."

"It's a good time to come back to the market, on a relative and absolute basis," Vincent Mortier, chief investment officer at Amundi Asset Management, was quoted as saying in the FT report.

Echoing such a bullish sentiment, Bloomberg recently reported that Chinese travel and spending have started to improve as China has gradually brought the COVID-19 resurgence under control, which suggests that a recovery of the Chinese economy "is underway."

Quoting economists at Citigroup Inc., the report said that analysts expect that progress of the recovery to accelerate from June onward.

Global investors are increasing their bets on the Chinese market.

"We are continuing to build our business in China," Noel Quinn, group chief executive of HSBC, told Xinhua, stressing that the Chinese economy shows resilience and long-term growth potential.

Between 2020 and 2025, HSBC, one of the world's leading financial institutions, expects to invest more than 3 billion yuan (447 million dollars) in China, Quinn told Xinhua.

"We have increased our allocation to Chinese equities," Stephane Monier, chief investment officer at private bank Lombard Odier, was quoted as saying by FT, noting that they have backed away from other emerging markets and reallocated to China.

These banks' vote of confidence in China is not uncommon. Data from the Ministry of Commerce showed that foreign direct investment in the Chinese mainland, in actual use, expanded 22.6 percent year on year to 87.77 billion dollars in the first five months of the year.

The worst period of the recent COVID-19 outbreak may have ended, Robin Xing, chief China economist with Morgan Stanley, said, adding that the following recovery trajectory will more likely be a U-shaped one.

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