EXPECTATIONS FOR CHINA

Business leaders worldwide have been pessimistic about the global economy in recent months, but now, cautious optimism is emerging. They are confident about the robust growth of the Chinese economy and expect China to be a "key driver" of a global recovery.

China's economy posted steady growth in 2022 despite pressures including COVID-19 breakouts and a complex external environment, with its gross domestic product growing 3 percent year on year to a record high of 121.0207 trillion yuan (about 17.95 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2022, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

The 2022 GDP growth was published at the time when the WEF was underway. With the better-than-expected data, optimism over both the Chinese and global economies spread in Davos.

Maasdorp was confident in China's expected growth, a sentiment shared across the banking sector. Although he predicted a "bumpy period" in the first quarter of this year and potentially in the second, there are strong expectations for more robust growth driven by consumption in the year's second half.

Haitham Al Ghais, secretary general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, praised China for factoring renewable energy into its growth strategy.

"We are extremely proud of the steps taken by the Chinese government to promote renewable energy as a part of the energy mix as required for China to fuel its continuous development and economic growth," he said.

"We are very confident in the Chinese economy and the strength of the leadership and the government and the people of China," Al Ghais said.