World's second economy

Today, the Chinese economy is the second largest in the world. The US still keeps its undisputed leadership. In the pre-crisis 2019, its gross domestic product stood at around $14.3 trillion, while US GDP was estimated at about $21.4 trillion. However, the gap between them narrowed, since China’s economy was the only major one to boast of an expansion in the second quarter of 2020, a year of crisis. All the other major economies faced a deep recession amid the coronavirus pandemic. Moreover, their economic indicators are still downbeat. If China continues to recover at the same pace that it has recently gained, its economy is likely to become a world leader and leave the United States far behind by 2028, economists predict. Notably, this data reflects a stronger rebound. As reported earlier, China will hardly take the lead earlier than in 2033. Therefore, it is clear that its economic activity has accelerated at a faster pace.

Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)

An important event of the last year, which went largely unnoticed against the backdrop of other global events, was a partnership agreement signed by fifteen Asian countries. The coalition includes China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and the Philippines. Notably, the United States and India did not join the agreement, saying that excessive imports from China could harm the domestic market. The member countries account for 32% of the global GDP. The largest share of 55% belongs to China. According to preliminary estimates, the trade agreement between these fifteen states will add $186 billion to the world economy and 0.2% to its members’ GDP. In general, RCEP has very good prospects, and the euphoria over cooperation will be as great as over BRICS.

Victory over extreme poverty 

Just a few months ago, the Chinese authorities announced that absolute poverty had been eliminated in the country. According to statistical data, in the last ten regions lagging behind in terms of economic development, annual per capita income has finally exceeded the average of $1,750. Thus, the number of individuals living in extreme rural poverty in the country has decreased by 5.5 million. Moreover, the government plans to increase China’s average per capita income to $12,535 by 2023. At the moment, the country is ranked fourth in the ranking of countries with the highest number of dollar millionaires, totaling about 1.3 million.

China's stock markets growing

Today, China’s stock market is well-balanced in terms of investor types. Five years ago, surging interest in investing brought a large number of non-professional participants to the market. Of course, this had dire consequences, which were then completely overcome. Now there are 70% of institutional traders, 25% of retailers, and 5% of foreign investors in the market. In 2019, the country's authorities embarked on a major program of economic reforms, including the liberalization of the Chinese stock market. As a result, both domestic and foreign investment significantly increased. China’s asset management industry reached $16 trillion in the pre-crisis year.

Technological revolution well under way

The tech industry is also gaining momentum in China. Notably, the coronavirus pandemic did not affect it adversely but rather served as a driver of growth. First of all, the country's pharmaceutical industry has made huge strides amid the COVID-19 crisis. Thus, China has become the first country to cope with the spread of the coronavirus infection with the help of the so-called Health QR Code based apps. In addition, China is making progress in climate and space technologies. According to the latest data, the country's authorities are about to proceed with the construction of a new ISS. Apart from that, China wants to boost its capacity to modify the weather. Moreover, the authorities are sure that weather modification technology will be available within just five years.

Digital yuan

The official launch of the digital yuan has become a momentous event of this year. The virtual currency is currently undergoing trial runs among population, banks, and various services. If everything goes well, the digital yuan will be put in circulation by the 2022 Olympics to be held in Beijing.