(MENAFN- Asia Times) Beijing's new, bold plans to bolster China's economic growth and international relations are bullish signs for global investors and will not go unnoticed.
The main takeaway from last month's Central Economic Work conference (CEWC), an annual meeting of China's senior leadership, was that they will be focused on one thing more than any other: growth.
It was, perhaps, a more significant than usual conference as it took place as the world's second-largest economy began reopening after almost three years of strict COVID restrictions and lockdowns.
One of the key ways set out at the CEWC to enhance economic growth was to boost consumer spending.
Domestic consumption fell significantly during 2022, with retail sales down 5.9% year on year. Clearly, the reopening will play an enormous part in ramping up consumer spending.
But Beijing will also provide financial incentives to provide support for families across the country in both rural and urban areas to spend on home improvements, new energy vehicles (NEVs), family, health and social care services. The idea is to have a far-reaching impact over the whole of society, the more it becomes“embedded.”
Another major pillar is encouraging foreign investment and trade by expanding market access and giving equal treatment to overseas firms, increasing the protection of intellectual property and other rights, and promoting existing and in-the-pipeline foreign-owned projects.
Beijing has also promised to stabilize its critical real-estate sector, which has been a major driver of the country's GDP for the past two decades.
The tech sector is also back in the spotlight. After a series of radical and controversial regulatory crackdowns in recent years, which has impeded growth, the CEWC has stated that science and technology policy must“focus on self-reliance and self-improvement.” This indicates that overreaching regulatory scrutiny may be less intense moving forward.
There are also signs that Beijing is seeking to become less internationally isolated and find new friends and allies.
From the conference it appears that China wants to improve relations with Europe, which have been damaged by Beijing's support for Russia during its war against Ukraine.
These enhanced diplomatic ties would be a huge benefit to the economy, as the European Union is China's largest trading partner.
These, among other factors, and the reopening will be on global investors' radar in 2023.
As such, we fully expect that they are now positioning themselves to seek out opportunities to create and build wealth by increasing exposure in their portfolios to the People's Republic and its US$17 trillion economy – many perhaps for the first time since the beginning of 2020.
Nigel Green is founder and CEO of deVere Group. Follow him on Twitter @nigeljgreen.