WEF president optimistic about China's economic outlook

World Economic Forum (WEF) President Borge Brende said on Thursday that he was optimistic about the economic outlook for China in the medium and long-term.

"We are expecting that the measures taken by China and the Chinese authorities will lead to a revival of growth" and are optimistic about the medium- and long-term economic development in China, Brende said, adding that as for the rest of the world, "the coming year is going to be a bumpy year."

The WEF president made the remarks as data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on July 15 that China's gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 2.5 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2022.

"The global recovery is slowing and it is now becoming a weaker and weaker recovery. This is also influencing the Chinese economy that is growing more slowly," Brende, a former minister of foreign affairs of Norway, said via a video conference.

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), global growth is projected to slow from an estimated 6.1 percent in 2021 to 3.6 percent in 2022 and 2023, 0.8 and 0.2 percentage points lower for 2022 and 2023 than the global lender projected in January.

Speaking of China's current business environment for foreign enterprises, Brende said that the Chinese market is "a big home market," and that for many companies, China is of huge interest, both for foreign direct investments and for manufacturing.