Reforms to ensure steady growth of Chinese economy "good news" for world: economist

China's economy is continuing to perform better than expected as it remains the biggest single contributer to global growth, a veteran Chinese economist said on Thursday, while stressing that an upcoming high-profile political meeting in Beijing should deliver "good news" by placing emphasis on deepening economic reform.

Peng Sen, president of the China Society of Economic Reform and a former vice-chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, gave his assessment on China's current economic outlook during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum (WEF)'s 15th Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Dalian of northeast China's Liaoning Province.

Also known as the Summer Davos, the three-day event drew to a close on Thursday after gathering some 1,600 leading figures from the public and private sectors across nearly 80 countries and regions to jointly explore new drivers and pathways for global economic growth.

During the panel discussion, Peng highlighted the progress made by the Chinese economy in its ongoing recovery from the challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The Chinese economy has gone through the three-year-long pandemic and achieved a recovery in 2023. It is still in a wave-like development. In 2023, the Chinese economy grew at an annual rate of 5.2 percent, contributing 30 percent to the global growth, despite pressures. China's economy performed better than expected in the first quarter of this year, growing at a rate of 5.3 percent, which is better than expected. The foreign trade in China stood at 5 percent in the first quarter, and hit 8.6 percent in May, rising by 3.6 percentage points. So in general speaking, the Chinese economy is still in a continuous rebound," he said.

Peng also believes the upcoming plenum of the Communist Party of China (CPC), scheduled to take place in Beijing from July 15-18, should deliver "good news" for the Chinese economy and the world, with an emphasis on further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese modernization set to be on the agenda at the session.

"Big decisions on reform will be be made at the third plenary session of its 20th CPC central committee next month, which, I think, will be good news for the Chinese economy, and the steady growth of the Chinese economy is a good news for the world," said Peng.

Reforms to ensure steady growth of Chinese economy "good news" for world: economist

China's Shenzhou-18 crew members on the Tiangong Space Station are preparing for their second extravehicular activities (EVAs) by conducting training that includes science experiments and orbital maneuvers.

Astronauts Ye Guangfu, Li Cong, and Li Guangsu have completed one-third of their six-month mission with stable physical and operational conditions in orbit, since they aboarded the Tiangong two month ago.

During their training, the astronauts used advanced remotely control systems for rendezvous and docking operations on in-orbit training systems and metacognitive training systems, practicing skills such as recognizing images, manual docking, remote docking, and safely undocking of the spacecraft under different initial conditions.

Throughout the training, the astronauts monitored the orientation and relative distance and speed of target spacecraft on screens, practicing precise control of the speed and orientation using specialized handles.

Last week, the crew also underwent exercise-based cardiopulmonary function tests. These tests assess the cardiovascular and respiratory capabilities needed for upcoming spacewalks, using methods to simulate exercise-induced metabolic demands.

The Shenzhou-18 crew was launched into space on April 25, as the third manned mission during the application and development stage of China's space station and the 32nd flight mission of the country's manned space program overall.

The crew members completed their first spacewalk on May 28, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

China's Shenzhou-18 crew trains for 2nd spacewalk