China has been a major engine of global economic growth for years. Amid a complex and evolving economic landscape worldwide, what underpins confidence in the long-term prospects of the Chinese economy?

The 2025 "two sessions" underscore that the underlying trend of China's long-term economic growth has not changed and will not change. The confidence comes from the country's institutional strengths and advantages, effective governance mechanisms, vast space for further growth, innovation drive, and reform and opening up.

China has distinctive institutional strengths. The centralized, unified leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee is essential to doing economic work well. The country's capability to pool resources to accomplish major undertakings is particularly evident in areas such as infrastructure construction and technological innovation.

The Chinese economy has many advantages, demonstrating its resilience and potential.

China, with a population of 1.4 billion, has a supersized market and huge domestic demand. Sectors such as the digital economy, the silver economy and the ice-and-snow economy have become highlights of the consumption landscape. The people's pursuit of a better life continues to drive the unleashing of economic growth potential.

China's complete industrial system not only provides robust support for economic development but also ensures ample room for maneuver in dealing with risks and challenges.

Effective governance mechanisms have been instrumental in promoting China's high-quality development. For example, coordination between central and local governments is conducive to ensuring that reforms are carried out in a targeted and efficient way. Long-term planning, such as five-year plans, helps push forward the country's development across various sectors.

The country is experiencing structural improvements and seeing new growth drivers fostered, which creates vast space for further growth. Bridging the development gaps between urban and rural areas and among different regions will also boost growth.

China will double down on its innovation-driven development strategy, promoting emerging industries such as commercial spaceflight and the low-altitude economy, and cultivating industries of the future such as bio-manufacturing, quantum technology, embodied AI and 6G technology. The country's vast talent pool provides a strong intellectual foundation for innovation and growth. In 2024, China's 2.68-percent R&D intensity ranked 12th among major countries in the world, higher than the average of European Union countries.

Reform and opening-up have been key to the country's development over the past 40-plus years. And the country has pledged to further deepen reforms comprehensively and expand high-standard opening up. The third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee last July introduced more than 300 important reform tasks, aiming to promote high-quality economic growth that will become more balanced, innovation-driven, integrated, and open.

China's economy has been marked by rapid growth, and it has bright prospects for remarkable and sustainable high-quality development.