British media: Global investors are eager to go to China

The original title of the article in the Financial Times on December 29 was: China's economy reopened after three years of epidemic prevention and control. With China's optimization and adjustment of epidemic prevention measures, China's economy recovered. The streets of Beijing have become congested again. Tourists are scrambling to book holidays abroad. Enterprises expect economic activity to pick up. Although China is still in an unprecedented wave of COVID-19 infection, the world's second largest economy is beginning to breathe new life after the optimization and adjustment of epidemic prevention measures this month.
Investors and analysts have predicted that as China's economy recovers gradually after the epidemic has disrupted the supply chain, forced factories to shut down, and re integrated with the rest of the world, people will usher in a brighter year.
The demand for international tourism is expected to surge next year. Shen Siwen, the head of McKinsey's Asian aviation consulting business, predicted that the number of outbound tourists of Chinese citizens would rise from 5% last month to about 50% in the summer from the proportion of the same period in 2019. The manager of a travel agency in Shanghai said that the company was making preparations for this. "All of us are busy talking with overseas partners, so that we can get the first mover advantage when the border reopens." He predicted that the tourism "blowout" would occur during the Lunar New Year in late January next year.
Although the streets of Beijing were still empty due to the epidemic a few weeks ago, most people's lives are now beginning to return to normal. Restaurants have become crowded again, and the delay of traffic congestion on the streets of Beijing has increased by 50% compared with one month ago. The streets of most major cities in China are still quieter than usual, but investors believe that the recovery of other parts of China will not lag behind Beijing for too long. The forecast of increased Chinese demand also pushed up oil prices and led to higher prices of metals such as copper.
Citigroup analysts predicted this week that China's total retail sales would increase by 11% to 50 trillion yuan in 2023, and most of China's major cities would pass the peak of COVID-19 infection by mid January. The survey conducted by the American Chamber of Commerce in China this month shows that more than 70% of the respondents expect the impact of the epidemic will not exceed three months. He Maike, President of the Chamber of Commerce, welcomed China's new initiatives and said that border control is the most important issue affecting international business. He predicted that foreign executives would visit China from next year, but he also warned that investment recovery would take longer.
An executive of a large Japanese manufacturer said that he and his colleagues will soon go to China, where the company will open factories. "China is the country you need to keep in touch with, and many people are eager to go there." Industry experts said that investors from all over the world are eager to return to China to do business. They still want to invest in China, but first want to know the situation, "They used to worry... But now many people think that the relevant problems will be solved in March next year, and they intend to go to China from then on."
Peng Airao, chief economist of the Netherlands International Group in Greater China, believes that the timing of China's new initiatives is "not perfect" in view of the recession risks in the United States and Europe that may affect commodity demand. Hua Yifan, a manager of a clothing manufacturer in Jiaxing, said that his factory had stopped production because of supply shortage and workers' illness, "but I am still confident. As long as I can survive this winter, temporary shutdown will not be a big deal." (Author Ryan McMorrow, et al., translated by Ding Ding)