ENGINE FOR GLOBAL RECOVERY

Through consistent moves, China has sent a clear message to the world: The international community must close ranks to jointly respond to this crisis and meet the challenge. It must keep the global economy open in order to promote global recovery.

China has become the only major economy in the world to achieve positive growth in 2020. With its opening-up elevated to a higher level, the Chinese economy is generating positive spillover effects for the world's economic recovery.

Its strong performance this year has shown how much the world needs China to realize a sound global economic recovery in 2021, noted a recent Bloomberg opinion piece that shed light on China's key economic indicators for November.

"The world needs China more than ever. Thank goodness it's showing up: Economic data ... all looked strong and in line with forecasts," read the article published in mid-December.

Reviewing the global scene, the world's second-largest economy stands out all the more, the article added, calling China "indispensable" as other major economies are still "going the wrong way."

The global economy is projected to grow 4.2 percent next year, with China expected to account for over a third of that growth, said the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development in its latest Economic Outlook report.

"The countries and regions with effective test, track and isolate systems, where vaccination will be deployed rapidly, are likely to perform relatively well," read the report.

While the country has emerged from the global recession as the recovery frontrunner, it is also at the forefront of global COVID-19 vaccine development, with most vaccines undergoing phase-3 clinical trials. In order that the world can vanquish the pandemic as soon as possible, China stands ready to contribute to vaccine accessibility and affordability around the world, in developing countries in particular.

Xulio Rios, director of the Observatory of Chinese Politics in Spain, said China has not only taken domestic measures to control the pandemic and restart its economy but has also sent strong messages promoting cooperation to the international community.

Rios cited meetings such as the G20, APEC and BRICS, as well as the signature of the RCEP agreement, as evidence of China's support for cooperation, noting that China has demonstrated the correct response at this time: strengthening cooperation and multilateralism.