Chinese market 'is not a risk, but an opportunity': Foreign Ministry

Choosing to operate in the Chinese market is not a risk, but an opportunity, said China's Foreign Ministry. China will only open its door wider to the outside world, a ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday, in response to the ongoing World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting 2024, where some voices emerged urging for "de-risking" in economic and trade activities, while other voices calling for cooperation.

China welcomes foreign companies to continue to invest in China, and will continue to build a market-oriented, law-based and internationalized business environment, said Mao Ning, the ministry spokesperson during a media briefing.

As Chinese Premier Li Qiang pointed out at the opening ceremony of the WEF 2024, countries have very close economic linkages in today's world, which means their macroeconomic policies have more notable spillover effects, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

"In the face of global crises, fragmented and separate responses will only leave the world economy more fragile," Li said on Tuesday. 

Mao noted that China believes that only by fully respecting the laws of the international division of labor, unswervingly advancing liberalization and facilitation in trade and investment, tightening cooperation and making the pie of mutual benefit bigger, can the global economy truly serve the common interests of all parties.

"Countries around the world should step up dialogue and communication, take more coordinated and effective measures, firmly uphold the multilateral trading system, jointly improve global economic governance, and foster new drivers of global growth," Mao said.

As the second largest economy in the world, China's contribution to global economic growth has stayed at around 30 percent during recent years. China remains an important engine of global development, Mao said.

She noted that China is comprehensively advancing the Chinese-style modernization with high-quality development, which will continue to provide a strong driving force for global economic growth.

"China has a huge market and is in the stage of rapid release of market demand. In the context of insufficient global demand, the market is the scarcest resource. With its vast market room and ever-expanding depth, China is bound to play an important role in boosting global growth. China will unswervingly open up to the outside world to share its opportunities and achieve common development with other countries," Mao said.

According to the latest data released on Wednesday, China's consumption market continued to expand in 2023. Total retail sales of consumer goods stood at 47.1 trillion yuan ($6.6 trillion), up 7.2 percent year-on-year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported. 

The per capita consumption expenditure rose to 26,796 yuan, up 9.0 percent year-on-year. The national economy expanded by 5.2 percent from 2022, according to NBS.