China in a Decade: Enhancement of Overall National Strength with Rising Global Influences

By Zhang Andi

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, in the face of the changing international situation, the sudden outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the deep recession of the world economy, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has coordinated China’s response to the unprecedented changes of the world and led the whole Party and Chinese of all ethnicities to forge ahead towards the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. China has made historic achievement in social and economic development, its position as a major economic power has consolidated, per capita GDP has risen to a new high, people’s living standards have dramatically improved, and China’s overall national strength has been enhanced with a rising global influence.

I.High economic growth with main indicators ranking among the top in the world

1. China remains the powerhouse of world economy

From 2013 to 2021, China's economy grew at an average annual rate of 6.6%, much higher than the world average growth rate of 2.6% in the same period. China's average contribution rate to world economic growth reached 38.6%, higher than the combined contribution rate of G7 countries.

2. China’s GDP ranks second in the world

In 2021, China’s GDP reached US$17.7 trillion, accounting for 18.5% of the global total, up 7.2 percentage points over 2012.

3. The output of major industrial and agricultural products steadily rank among the top in the world

Agricultural output has maintained steady growth. Since 2012, the output of grain, meat, peanuts, and tea has steadily ranked first globally, and the output of rapeseeds has steadily ranked second.

The output of China’s major industrial products has steadily increased. Among them, the output of crude steel, coal, power generation, cement, fertilizer, automobiles, microcomputers and cell phones and other industrial products has steadily ranked No. 1 in the world; in 2021, China’s crude oil production ranked fifth in the world.

4. China’s total foreign trade volume now ranks first in the world

China’s total foreign trade rose from US$4.4 trillion in 2012 to US$5.3 trillion in 2020, surpassing the U.S. as the world’s largest trading country. In 2021, China’s total foreign trade increased to US$6.9 trillion, further consolidating its No.1 position in the world.

China’s share of global trade in goods has risen steadily. In 2021, China’s trade in goods hit US$6.1 trillion, far outperforming the 2012 level of US$3.9 trillion, accounting for 13.5% of the world’s total.　

The scale of foreign trade in services continues to expand. Since 2012, China’s foreign trade in services has increased year by year, reaching US$821.2 billion in 2021, accounting for 7.2% of the global total, up 1.8 percentage points over 2012.

5. China’s utilization of FDI is among the highest in the world

China’s actual use of foreign direct investment rose from $113.3 billion in 2012 to $173.5 billion in 2021, with an average annual growth of 4.8%, and has steadily ranked No. 2 globally since 2020.

6. China leads the world in construction of modern facilities

Modern transportation and communication facilities in China are world leading.

At the end of 2021, China had built and opened a total of 1.425 million 5G base stations, accounting for more than 60% of the global total; and the number of terminals connected to 5G network accounted for more than 80% of the global total.

The operating mileage of high-speed railway in China reached 40,000 km, up 3.3 times from 2012, ranking first on top of the world.

Highway mileage reached 169,000 km, up 0.8 times from 2012, ranking first in the world.

China’s construction of digital and IT facilities has seen leapfrog development.

The number of fixed broadband users in China increased from 180 million in 2012 to 540 million in 2021, with an average annual growth of 13.2%, ranking 1st in the world.

The number of cell phone users increased from 1.11 billion in 2012 to 1.64 billion, with an average annual growth of 4.4%, ranking first globally.

Internet penetration rate reached 73%, 30.9 percentage points higher than in 2012.

II.Significant improvement of per capita income and main livelihood indicators

1. New leap in per capita GNI

In 2021, China’s per capita gross national income (GNI) reached US$11,890 dollars, an increase of one fold compared with 2012. In the GNI ranking published by the World Bank, China’s GNI per capita rose from 112th in 2012 to 68th in 2021, a leap of 44 places.

2. Great contributions to global reduction of poverty

The 98.99 million rural poor China had as of the end of 2012 were all lifted out of poverty by 2020, marking the full eradication of absolute poverty. China had achieved the poverty reduction target set by the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 10 years ahead of schedule – a great contribution to the cause of poverty reduction in the world.

III.China’s innovation capacity and global competitiveness have been significantly enhanced

1. Continuous rise in global innovation ranking

In 2021, China ranked 12th in the Global Innovation Index issued by the World Intellectual Property Organization, up from the 34th place in 2012.

The number of enterprises listed in the World Top 500 ranks on top of the world.

2. The number of enterprises listed in the World Top 500 ranks on top of the world

Since 2012, the number of Chinese companies on the Fortune Global 500 list has continued to increase. After surpassing the United States for the first time in 2018, China has ranked first globally for four consecutive years.

In 2021, the number of Chinese enterprises on the list reached a new high of 145; with a combined turnover accounting for 30.6% of all top 500 enterprises.