TEHRAN- In the first half of 2023, under the unstable and uncertain situation of the world's economic recovery, and in the face of a complex domestic and international environment, China's economy has continued to recover steadily, with a growth rate that is significantly better than that of other major economies in the world, and has been characterized by strong resilience, great potential, sufficient vitality, and a long-term positive outlook.

With the policies gradually taking effect, China is fully confident and capable of maintaining healthy, high-quality economic development. In this regard, I would like to make a few comments on China's economic situation:

Firstly, China's macroeconomic performance is overall on the upswing. A good start was achieved in the first quarter, and the recovery trend continued in the second quarter. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 5.5 percent in its first half, indicating an increase of 1 percentage point over the first quarter. Agricultural production has been generally stable, with another bumper summer harvest of grain and oil, and a total summer grain output of 146.13 million tons. Industrial production has steadily recovered, the manufacturing industry has been on the rise, the value added of manufacturing industry above designated size increased by 4.2% year-on-year, a 1.3 percentage points progress compared with the first quarter. The service industry has also experienced faster growth, with the offline aggregated service industry picking up significantly, the retail sales of services increasing by 21.5% in its first half, and the value-added of the service industry increasing by 6.4% year-on-year. People's living standards have continued to improve, with 6.78 million people newly employed in cities and towns in the first half of the year, an increase of 240,000 over the same period last year. In June, the unemployment rate of the labor force aged 25-59 in the national urban survey was 4.1 percent, a decrease of 0.4 percentage points compared with the figure for the same period last year. Disposable income per capita for the first half of the year increased by 5.8% in real terms.

Secondly, the new momentum of China's economy is flourishing. Thanks to a complete industrial system, abundant human resources, a convenient software and hardware infrastructure network, and the widespread application of modern information technology, artificial intelligence, big data and other technologies, scientific and technological innovations continue to emerge and empower high-quality development. Since the start of this year, the commercial maiden flight of the homemade large aircraft C919 has been completed, and the output of new energy vehicles, solar batteries, service robots and other products has increased by 35%, 54.5% and 9.6% respectively year-on-year. Lithium batteries, solar cells, electric vehicles (known as the "new three stuff") exports totaled 61.6% growth. The value added of the semiconductor device manufacturing industry also rose by 30.9%. The driving effect of domestic demand on the economy has significantly enhanced, with total retail sales of consumer goods increasing by 8.2%, and private investment in infrastructure and manufacturing up 15.6% and 8.4% respectively. In the first half of the year, some 16.38 million business entities has been newly established, including 4.95 million enterprises, representing a year-on-year increase of 12.7% and 16.3% respectively. As the world's largest consumer market, China has a strong demand for investment in public services, infrastructure and other areas, which contains huge market space.

Thirdly, China is unswervingly promoting high-level opening-up to the rest of the world. Against the backdrop of a sluggish recovery of the world economy and a slowdown in global trade and investment, China has been actively opening up to the outside world at a high level, strengthening economic and trade exchanges with countries around the world on a mutually beneficial and win-win basis, and the results continue to be manifested. During the first half of 2023, the development of China's foreign trade has been steady and high-quality, with the scale of import and export exceeding 20 trillion yuan for the first time in the same period in history, registering a year-on-year growth of 2.1%; The 133rd Canton Fair has been held successfully, involving nearly 13,000 exhibitors and more than 800,000 exhibits, all of which hit a new record high, showing China's great vitality in foreign trade; The attractiveness of China's market has been improving continuously, the actual use of foreign investment in 21 Pilot Free Trade Zones (PFTZs) has reached 129.66 billion yuan, up 8.2% year-on-year; New achievements have been made in the high-quality construction of the "Belt and Road", with year-on-year growth of 9.8% in imports and exports with countries along the routes, and growth of 16% and 30% in the number of China-Europe Railway Express liner trains and the volume of cargoes sent, respectively.

In February this year, President Raisi paid a successful visit to China, the two heads of state reached a series of important consensus during their meetings, emphasizing that the two sides should actively implement the China-Iran Comprehensive Cooperation Plan, continue to deepen cooperation in the fields of trade, agriculture, industry, renewable energy and other areas, and create more pragmatic cooperation achievements. Under the joint guidance of the two heads of state, China and Iran have been constantly making new practical cooperation progress in various fields such as politics, economy and trade, and culture. China remains Iran's top trading partner, with bilateral trade amounting to $6.5 billion in January-May 2023, rising steadily amid the lack of momentum in the global economic recovery. Since the beginning of this year, personnel exchanges between the two sides have become more frequent, and enterprises from the two countries have enthusiastically participated in various economic and trade events such as the 133rd Canton Fair and Iran Export Potential Expo. As the Chinese economy continues to release vitality and is steadily on the rise, it is willing to share its development dividends and opportunities with all countries in the world, including Iran. In the second half of 2023, China will also host a series of trade and investment fairs such as the 6th China International Import Expo(CIIE), the 134th Canton Fair, 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services(CIFTIS), and the First China International Supply Chain Expo, all of which will provide a high-quality platform for all sectors of the Iranian community to familiarize themselves with China and engage in economic and trade cooperation with Chinese enterprises.

In the next period, China is committed to pursuing a more proactive opening-up strategy, advancing global development initiatives, steadily raising the level of cooperation in trade, investment, industry and other areas, continuously providing new opportunities for the world with China's renewed development, and standing ready to work hand in hand with all countries in the world to promote the building of an open world economy and the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind.