Green industry, AI technology to drive China's future economic growth: experts

Green industry and artificial intelligence (AI) will serve as the major driving engines of China's economic growth in the future, according to economic experts.

During a discussion on the China Media Group's program Dialogue, experts noted that China will benefit significantly from its leading position in green industry.

"Greening the economy [is where] China has a leadership and which it can exploit in foreign markets because you have built comparative advantage [in these areas] - renewables, batteries, critical material, EVs - where you are better than many other countries," said Pascal Lamy, former WTO director-general.

"All the young people are thinking that our first duty is to protect the planet. Young people are demonstrating in the street everywhere to protect the planet and to have green economy. So green economy, I think it's very important, a lot of young people are mobilized in this direction, and we have to learn from our diversity," said Jean-Pierre Raffarin, former French Prime Minister.

Experts also highlighted China's progress in technology, especially in AI, as a significant factor in driving economic growth.

"I think that in addition to the rapid progress in green technology, China is also making remarkable strides in digital technology. Whether in industry, commerce, healthcare, or education, we are leveraging digital technology and investing heavily in research and development, so AI technology will play an increasingly important role in China's economic growth in the future," said Jiang Jianqing, former chairman of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

"The long-term economic growth of any country or region, or even company, relies on three factors: investment, education and technological advancement," said Zhu Tian, a Professor of Economics at the China Europe International Business School.

Green industry, AI technology to drive China's future economic growth: experts

China's civil aviation sector reported steady growth in October, data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) showed Monday.

In October, passenger trips reached 64.09 million, up 14.3 percent year over year. while domestic passenger trips came in at 58.29 million, up 10.5 percent year on year, international passenger trips surpassed 5.8 million, surging 76.1 percent year on year and having recovered to 96 percent of the level of October 2019, according to the CAAC.

The civil aviation market's freight volume topped 809,000 tonnes last month, with international freight transport reached 330,000 tonnes, up 52 percent over the same period in 2019.

In the first 10 months of this year, the sector handled 620 million passenger trips, up 18.6 percent year over year. A total of about 7.3 million tonnes of cargos and mails were transported, a growth of 23.9 percent year-on-year.  In particular, the cargo and mail transport volume on the international air routes surged 48.5 percent compared with the same period of last year.

China's aviation sector maintains stable growth in October