Deloitte deputy CEO confident in China's economic development

Active policy measures to boost the economy, the fostering of new quality productive forces and the optimization of measures for the real estate sector will ensure China sustains a robust GDP growth this year, said Dora Liu, deputy CEO for Deloitte China, a global auditing and consulting firm, at the just-concluded Summer Davos forum.

The three-day Summer Davos forum, or the World Economic Forum (WEF)'s 15th Annual Meeting of the New Champions, concluded in Dalian City, northeast China's Liaoning Province, on Thursday.

In an interview with China Global Television Network on the sidelines of the forum, Liu noted that from January to May, the Chinese economy has shown a vigorous growth momentum in manufacturing, consumption and exports as the World Bank has raised the growth estimate for China's economy in 2024 from 4.5 percent to 4.8 percent.

"In the first five months we have seen very strong performance of three sectors. First and foremost, manufacturing, no doubt. Second is service consumption, and third is external demand - you can interpret as exports. From a production side, manufacturing, particularly advanced manufacturing, or high-tech-related manufacturing has achieved a very impressive result," said Liu.

Official data showed that in the first five months, China's industrial output increased 6 percent year-on-year. In May, the output of the high-tech manufacturing sector surged 9.4 percent, 4.4 percentage points faster than the pace of overall industrial output growth.

The data also showed that China's consumption growth picked up pace in May with retail sales expanding 8.6 percent year-on-year, while fixed-asset investment grew 5.6 percent year-on-year in the first five months.

"That indicates we (China) are on the right track of high-quality growth, particularly, the new [quality] productive forces as the top priority of our economic growth. The combination of our measures, the new [quality] productive forces, and the optimization of real estate measures. All in all, I'm very confident that we can achieve more than 5 percent GDP growth in this year," said Liu.

First introduced in 2023, new quality productive forces refer to advanced productivity freed from the traditional economic growth mode and productivity development paths. It features high-tech, high efficiency and high quality.

On May 28, Deloitte hosted the inaugural MNC Future Summit in Shanghai, gathering together over 200 global delegates, including senior executives from renowned multinational companies (MNCs) in China, top industry professionals, and Deloitte's client service lead partners.

The attendees to the summit all agreed that the Chinese economy is too big and too important to ignore, and that despite the complexities, the Chinese market still hold abundant opportunities for global investors, according to Liu.

"The reason behind why we were all so confident of China's economy is exactly as what Premier Li Qiang mentioned and pointed out [at the opening plenary of the Summer Davos forum]. First and foremost, the mega size of our digital economy, the huge amount of user cases and the innovation - pivotal is the power of the innovation hub. Second is the talent pool, and third is China has been keeping advocating the open-door policy and it put words into action," said Liu.

Deloitte deputy CEO confident in China's economic development

A delegation from the Taliban-led Afghan government is currently in Doha to attend the third round of UN-convened talks on Afghanistan scheduled for Sunday to Monday, hoping to take it as an opportunity to foster understanding between their government and the wider international community.

Key issues on the meeting's agenda include frozen Afghan assets and the Taliban's counter-narcotics policies.

Zabihullah Mujahid, chief spokesperson for the caretaker government, led a six-member delegation to the meeting. Before heading to Doha, he briefed the media on Saturday about his government's approach toward the gathering.

Answering a question from China Global Television Network (CGTN), Mujahid outlined the state of his country's ties with the rest of the world, including some Western countries.

"We don't have problems with all of the world, but we want to reach a solution and maintain mutual understanding with some countries that have been pursuing obsessive policies toward Afghanistan. Afghanistan has faced financial challenges, and its business affairs have been impacted by the sanctions that have been imposed. This needs to be addressed," he said.

A group of Afghan activists from diverse backgrounds, mostly based in the country, wrote an open letter on Sunday to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Special Envoys for Afghanistan, and the Interim Taliban Administration.

The letter addresses key concerns regarding Afghanistan's current socio-economic and political landscape under the Taliban-led government. It highlights severe economic challenges, exacerbated by international actions such as funding cuts and banking restrictions, alongside internal Taliban policies hindering the economic participation of women and educational opportunities for girls.

The activists urge participants of the third Doha meeting to increase aid to the Afghan people, pave the way for unfreezing the Afghanistan Central Bank's assets, and assist Afghan businesses and women.

"I think Afghanistan really deserves right now a chance to be reconnected to the world, to be reintegrated into the international community's framework and to be able to do business with the rest of the world just like any other country. And I think it's an absolute right of the Afghan people, regardless of any other political agendas or issues that we have in Afghanistan," said Muhammad Sulaiman Bin Shah, founder and CEO of Catalysts Afghanistan.

Kabul residents urge both the Taliban and international community to pay attention to the needs of the Afghan people and avoid confusing humanitarian with political issues.

"As we all know, the political and economic situation of Afghanistan is not leading to progress due to Afghanistan's frozen assets. I urge the international community to find a solution at this meeting, and unfreeze Afghan money," said Mushtaba Atayi, a Kabul resident.

"We want the Taliban-led government to reopen schools and universities for sisters, based on Islamic law, and provide the educational environment for them. That would be a very good step," another resident Asimullah Hamdard said.

Delegation of Afghan gov't attends Doha meeting of special envoys