Interview: Elite Quality Index 2023 shows China's economy to grow over long term: author

This aerial photo shows cars to be loaded for export at Yantai Port, east China's Shangdong Province, May 9, 2023. (Photo by Tang Ke/Xinhua)

ST. GALLEN, Switzerland, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The Elite Quality Report 2023 produced by the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland and its global partners shows that China's gross domestic product (GDP) per capita is set to grow over the long term, said one of its authors.

"What we found out is that China's Elite Quality Index is higher than its GDP per capita, which means that we expect China to grow over the next 20 or 30 years," said Tomas Casas Klett, a professor at the university's Research Institute for International Management, specializing in international business with a focus on China.

The index, an indicator of long-term growth prospects, shows that "China will at some point reach a GDP per capita that is about three times the one it has now," Casas Klett, also director of China Competence Center at the university, told Xinhua.

"In other words, based on the quality and the value creation of its elite business models, we think that China will be growing over the long term," he continued.

According to the researcher, elite quality measures whether business models create value and first-order productive activity and whether they benefit from transfers and rent-seeking. "Countries develop on the basis of the quality of their elite business models ... Those countries with high elite quality will see growth," he said.

China's GDP grew 4.5 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

This aerial photo taken on May 9, 2023 shows the container terminal at Lianyungang Port, east China's Jiangsu Province. (Photo by Wang Chun/Xinhua)

"This year will be a tough one for the world. China will do better than the rest. We will see higher economic growth in China over 4 percent certainly, maybe hitting 5 percent," Casas Klett said.

"In Europe, in America, we may have a financial crisis. We have inflation in Europe, 7 percent in Germany, 5 percent in the U.S., and under 2 percent in China."

"We also expect a re-positioning of the Chinese economy, moving not only from investment to consumption, but also from manufacturing to services," he added.

"The Chinese economy is going to continue to grow. The 4 or 5 percent Chinese growth translates into maybe a trillion additional GDP, maybe a little bit less, but there's growth."

Asked about the investment opportunities for foreign companies in China, he said: "There are certain sectors like healthcare or professional services that are going to grow faster than average, where foreign firms have a competitive advantage."

"Another source of opportunity is the fact that an economic area might be forming in Asia and the RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) trade agreement is the first such incipient initiative. Many companies are investing in China for China, but increasingly they will also invest in China for Asia and in Asia for China."

The above-mentioned index report released in April included contributions from 35 authors from around the world, including lead authors Casas Klett and Guido Cozzi, with their analyses covering diverse economies such as the United States, China, Japan, Bangladesh, Nigeria and Switzerland.