China expects 5% GDP growth in 2023 – Reuters

The PRC will pay much more attention to supporting the welfare of its people. Particular emphasis is placed on the creation of urban jobs. The authorities intend to curb the rise in unemployment. Thus, about 12 million jobs will be created this year. Additionally, plans to support businesses in Hong Kong and Macau were announced separately. That is to say that China is thus saying that it is not going to “attack” the companies in these areas. The Chinese authorities intend to tightly control the consumer price index – up to three percent. Simply put, the country’s leaders will not allow inflation to pick up. The budget is planned with a deficit of three percent. This is about the same as last year – 2.8%. China will continue to pump money into the economy and is not afraid to admit it, because in the pre-Covid years the Chinese budget has always been in surplus.Finally, a very important point, which appeared in many previous reports, is related to the intensification of the development of independent science, engineering and technology. China seems to want to disconnect from American technology amid external economic uncertainty. The PRC is visibly stepping up measures in favor of foreign investment. The priority scheme will work for large foreign companies. In addition, the so-called negative list will be reduced, ie the list of areas where foreigners cannot work and where they cannot invest. On average in China, it is reduced by 50%. And if we take various special economic zones, then we’re talking about 70%. In this regard, China is “opening up” strongly.In addition, to stimulate the growth of science and technology, manufacturers involved in advanced small and medium-sized enterprise projects will be allowed to deduct up to 100% of research and development expenses from their taxable income. In simple terms, these companies will be able to reduce their taxes to zero thanks to such a measure. It is extremely important that China intends to continue investing in the One Belt, One Road project. And this is significant for foreign countries, since some of them, roughly speaking, “feed” on this project. Already, trade turnover along the Belt and Road has increased by 13.4%. And China is ready to increase its spending.Beijing will allocate significant financial resources to strengthening the army. China will increase its defense budget by 7.2% in 2023. It is obvious that China is currently actively developing three components: air defense, which is important in the event of a collision with Taiwan, the navy, including the submarine fleet. navy, and the medium-range missile system.Finally, additional funds will be directed to Chinese diplomacy. We will see harsher statements from Beijing, the creation of new electronic and traditional media in English and other languages. Most likely, China will continue to open its representative offices around the world. Not only diplomatic, but also cultural. Beijing speaks of its intention to further develop the diplomacy of a world power with Chinese characteristics. Let me remind you that this is a kind of formula, according to which the Chinese state does not follow Western standards of diplomacy, its foreign policy is aimed at multifactoriality and multipolarity.Particular attention should be paid to Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s statement that all Chinese diplomacy is aimed at the peaceful settlement of all disputes. This coincides almost entirely with Beijing’s statements on Ukraine. This is called the twelve point document. And this correlates not only with the Ukrainian question, but also with the Taiwanese question. China to increase defense budget by 7.2% in 2023China, apparently, will expand its economic expansion around the world, but do it “smarter”. Beijing, under current conditions, faces a number of oppositions, so the old scheme no longer works. In this regard, the CBP will not focus on the whole world, as usual, but on certain priority regions. Presumably this will be Africa, Latin America, Central Asia and Southeast Asian countries. The problem is that it is not the states that have the most important markets.Beijing is well aware that the United States will continue to oppose China, so it intends to develop relations with Europe separately. This is evidenced by recent Chinese diplomatic statements that the PRC is trying to separate the opinion of Europe from the position of the United States. And this is a good attempt, since China has already tried to “split” Europe into a few pieces that are suitable for operational activities. Thus, the PRC actively supported the “17 plus 1” organization with the participation of seventeen Eastern European states and one China. In addition, the Chinese, for example, are developing their interaction with the United Kingdom. It is not certain that all these attempts will succeed, but it may be the only reasonable step for Beijing in the current circumstances. Another very important topic for the global community, which will be discussed at the NPC, is the country’s fight against air and environmental pollution. The share of clean energy in China has increased and its consumption has increased by 25%. However, traditional energy still plays an important role in China.Prepared by Alexander Lenin