Trade tensions will not change the sound momentum of the Chinese economy: NBS
Global Times
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The Chinese economy is resilient to China-US trade tensions and the sound momentum of the Chinese economy will not be changed, the spokesperson for the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Tuesday.

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(Photo: VCG)

China's economy "is highly resilient and has huge flexibilities," NBS spokesperson Xing Zhihong told a press conference on Tuesday.

Due to supply-side structural reforms and innovation-driven strategies, China's economic growth has shifted from industry-driven to industry and services-driven, from investment-driven to investment and consumption-driven, from export-driven to export and import-driven, and this structural change has greatly increased Chinese economic stability, Xing said.

Meanwhile, innovation has given great potential to the Chinese economy, with technological advancements contributing 57.5 percent to China's GDP in 2017 alone.

"China has great capabilities to counterfeit China-US trade frictions, various risks and challenges to maintain healthy economic development," the spokesperson said.

When asked about the impact of the escalating China-US trade tensions on China's foreign trade, Xing said that "China never purposely seeks trade surplus… China pursues balanced trade, which benefits its own economic growth."

In the last two years, China's trade surplus has continued to contract. And the reason why China's export volume continues to grow is due to the fact that China has a comprehensive competitive advantage, he said.

The Chinese government has expressed a firm stance toward the China-US trade problem, Xing said, noting that China's opening-up has further expanded and the country can continue to maintain its import-export trade balance thanks to the growing competitiveness of domestic enterprises.