China's renewed pledge to opening-up praised

China's transition to high-quality economic development, its commitment to becoming a leading consumer market, and its renewed pledge to reform and opening-up are providing crucial momentum and stability to the world economy amid rising economic fragmentation, experts said.

In the speech delivered in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday, Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng outlined China's core economic propositions at the World Economic Forum, which include emphasizing high-quality development, turning the nation into a consumption powerhouse on top of a manufacturing powerhouse, and expanding its opening-up.

China is committed to fostering common prosperity with its trading partners through its own development and making the pie bigger for the global economy, said He, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

He pointed out that with average annual growth rates of around 5.4 percent, China's economy has expanded to over 140 trillion yuan ($20.1 trillion), contributing about 30 percent to global economic growth.

China will give full play to its super-sized market, step up efforts to expand imports, and strengthen industrial cooperation so that countries can better share in China's opportunities, the vice-premier said.

Briefing the audience on the fourth plenary session of the 20th Communist Party of China Central Committee, He said China's development will offer more opportunities to the world.

Mehmood Ul Hassan Khan, president of the Center for Knowledge and Public Policy in Islamabad, Pakistan, said the vice-premier's speech is timely, positive and promotes hopes for achieving greater progress and prosperity, as it underscored the Chinese government's commitment to openness and promotion of win-win cooperation.

The forthcoming 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) focuses on long-term structural reforms and further strengthening its macro-economy and productivity levels. "It also promotes high-quality development, (a) paradigm shift toward a new economic growth model (focusing on domestic consumption, demand), digitalization, and green technologies," Khan said. As a manufacturing powerhouse, "China is providing the hope, platform and facilitation to make the world more connected, prosperous and productive, serving as the new driver of the world economy".

Resilient growth

Maroun Kairouz, managing director of the World Economic Forum, described China's transition to high-quality development as a strategic shift aimed at achieving more sustainable and resilient development, commending the structural reforms China is currently undergoing.

These reforms, he said, not only strengthen China's own economic resilience but also create new global opportunities in clean energy, technology and trade for 2026 and beyond. This progress helps address shared challenges in an uncertain global environment.

In his speech, the vice-premier stated that China is committed to deepening international industrial specialization and collaboration, keeping global industrial supply chains secure and stable, and building a global market of shared benefits.

Anna Malindog-Uy, vice-president of the Asian Century Philippines Strategic Studies Institute, a Manila-based think tank, said the speech reaffirms China's commitment to further opening up and deeper trade integration. She highlighted that the speech carries real strategic relevance because it speaks to the deepest anxieties of the current global moment: uncertainty, fragmentation, and the erosion of trust in the international economic system.

The message resonates especially with developing and middle-income economies seeking predictability and development space, and it signals that China intends to remain an open, reliable engine of global growth, she said.

"By moving toward high-quality, domestic-demand-driven growth, China becomes a stronger source of global demand rather than just supply. Its push for advanced manufacturing and innovation helps upgrade global value chains, while the green transition lowers costs and accelerates climate action worldwide," she said.

"Overall, this trajectory promotes more balanced global growth, greater stability, and a more sustainable and cooperative global economic system," she added.

Xinhua and agencies contributed to this story.