China weathered through coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and remains a top destination for global investments, Han Bing, Minister Counselor of Economic and Commercial Affairs at the Chinese embassy in Cairo told Daily News Egypt. He added that positive developments have occurred in China's battle against COVID-19, which is the biggest public health emergency since the country's founding. COVID-19 remains a major challenge to global public health security, he said. Bing noted that China has taken comprehensive, rigorous, and thorough measures in the prevention, control, and treatment of the virus. The current outbreak has spread to more than 180 countries worldwide, he added. "The international community needs to collaborate to overcome difficulties. China is adequately confident and capable of winning the battle against the pandemic. The clouds will disperse and the pandemic will eventually pass," he stressed. "On 21 March, China reported 46 newly confirmed cases in the mainland, of which 45 were imported cases from abroad and 1 case was related to the imported cases. There is no new confirmed case in Wuhan city and Hunan province in 4 consecutive days," he said. China's anti-pandemic campaign has effectively safeguarded the health of the Chinese people, he asserted, noting that this campaign has also played a significant role in protecting the global community. China is endeavouring to bolster its economy and protect the livelihood of its people, he said, adding that while Chinese people are fighting the pandemic, the central and local governments are making efforts to promote economic and social development. "Under a series of measures introduced by economic departments around the country, work and production of enterprises were resumed, and the production activities and normal daily life are gradually restored. Key industries and leading enterprises, including foreign-invested enterprises, have resumed production," he said. China is taking measures to stabilise foreign trade including convenient and full export tax rebates, increasing credit issuance, expanding short-term export credit insurance business and lowering the premium rate, preparing for the upcoming "The 125th session of Canton fair" in April, further opening up, and ensuring that both domestic and foreign investors enjoy the same preferential policies, he said. The overall industrial production has decreased due to delayed resumption of work, he added, noting that the production of imported goods, such as mask and fermented alcohol, has registered fast growth. While Hi-Tech products demonstrated sound growing momentum, with the output of smartwatches, smart bands, semiconductor discrete devices, and integrated circuits growing by 119.7%, 45.1%, 31.4% and 8.5% respectively. Due to factors like Spring Festival vocation and the COVID-19 pandemic, in the first two months, the total value of imports and exports was RMB 4120bn ($581.73bn), a year-on-year decrease of 9.6%, he added. China's trade volume with traditional markets like the United States, the European Unions and Japan have decreased by 19.6%, 14.2%, and 15.3% respectively, while it has increased slightly with emerging markets. Trade with countries along the Belt and Road recorded a growth of 1.8%, historically accounting for over 30% of the total value of imports and exports. As a crucial part of the global supply chains, China will benefit from global economic development, and vice versa, he said, adding that China's manufacturing sector is the largest in scale, the most comprehensive and the best equipped in the world, which takes an important role in global industrial supply chains. As the pandemic continues to spread, the growth of the global economy and trade may slow down, which will have a certain impact on China's economic growth, he said. "However, the long-term development momentum of China's economy will not be disturbed. China's comprehensive competitive advantages in attracting all kinds of investment have not changed. China's strategy of opening to the outside world is unswerving," Bing concluded.
