For some time, there have been some commentary in the international community that speak ill of China’s economy.

What is the trend of China’s economy?

Recently, the National Bureau of Statistics of China has published the statistics about China’s national economic performance in 2023.

It shows that China’s economy has rebounded and moved upward, with high-quality development solidly advancing, new economic drivers developing faster, market demand recovering steadily, green transformation forging ahead, and foreign trade becoming more resilient.

China’s economy will continue to provide strong impetus for the world.

Is China’s economy stagnating? As shown by the statistics, China’s economy is making steady progress, and remains the biggest engine of global growth.

The International Monetary Fund has stated that China will be the largest driver of global economic growth in the next five years, and one percentage point increase in gross domestic product (GDP) growth in China leads to 0.3 percentage point increase in growth in other economies.

As the only country encompassing all industrial categories in the United Nations industrial classification, China contributes to around one-third of world economic growth over the years.

The scale of China’s manufacturing industry has ranked first in the world for 13 consecutive years.

In 2023, the Chinese economy has achieved a year-on-year GDP growth of 5.2 per cent, outpacing most major economies.

China is now advancing Chinese modernisation on all fronts through high-quality development, delivering modernisation to more than 1.4 billion people.

It will be a remarkable achievement in human history, one that will provide continuous impetus to the development of China and the wider world.

Will China’s declining population pose economic challenges?

China’s demographic dividend is turning into talent dividend, as innovation is the primary driving force for development.

China now ranks first in the world in terms of the size of talent pool, human resources in science and technology and the total number of researchers.

China’s industrial optimisation and upgrading has achieved remarkable results and is moving up the mid-to-high-end value chain.

China’s expenditure on research and development and investment in high-tech industries have maintained double-digit growth for many years.

The number of China’s patent applications ranks first in the world, and the number of unicorn companies ranks second in the world.

China is pushing ahead green and low-carbon transformation, which will provide impetus for development in green infrastructure, green energy, green transportation and other fields, and generate a market of 10 trillion yuan per year.

Is China’s Door closing?

China remains firmly committed to opening up, sharing development opportunities with the world.

President Xi Jinping’s call for high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and the Global Development Initiative have provided the most inclusive and extensive international cooperation platform.

China is the major trading partner of more than 140 countries and regions.

Our overall tariff level has been cut to 7.3 per cent, relatively at par with the developed members in the World Trade Organisation.

China is the world’s largest source of international development financing.

Since the beginning of this century, China has provided approximately $1.34 trillion in loans and grants to more than 20,000 projects in 165 low- and middle-income countries.

By opening up wider, China aims to develop together with all in the world.

Recently, there are some negative rhetoric against China’s economy.

Some countries want to shut out China in the name of “de-risking”, to “decouple” from China, fragment industrial and supply chains, and build “small yards with high fences”.

However, facts speak louder than words. In the post-epidemic era, despite challenging international environment, increasing uncertainty of the world economy and insufficient growth momentum, China’s economy can still achieve its growth targets beyond expectations with per capita disposable income continuing to rise, which is a strong demonstration of China’s resilience, vitality and potential.

To shut out China is to throw away opportunities, cooperation, stability and development.

Such a move would only create and spread risks, and no one would benefit from it.

As Premier Li Qiang has stated in the special address at the Opening Ceremony of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2024, the world has entered a new period of turbulence and transformation, yet the overall direction of human development and progress will not change, the overall dynamics of world history moving forward amid twists and turns will not change, and the overall trend toward a shared future for the international community will not change.

After all the shifts and changes over the years, all should cherish communication the more and exchange, solidarity and cooperation, openness and sharing, peace and stability, forging ahead with a shared aspiration for a better future toward building a community with a shared future for mankind!

Dr Edwin Alfred Nii Obodai Provencal, the Managing Director of Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company has been outdoored as the Chairman of the GITFiC-AfCFTA Tertiary Students Club.

The Ghana International Trade and Finance Conference works with the private sector and the Government sector in the sub-region and the continent at large to drive the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).

It is to broaden development agenda of the continent as defined in the A.U. (Agenda 2063) and global trade issues at large.

It has three thematic basic areas of services which are Trade, Trade Finance, and Logistics to enhance intra Africa trade, regional integration, trade liberalization, trade policies, and practices of the African continent.

The GITFiC-AfCFTA Tertiary Students Club was officially established in March 2023 at the University of Ghana and has since been replicated at three other institutions in Ghana, namely the University of Development Studies (UDS), All Nations University (ANU), and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

Prof Rosina Kyerematen, Dean of Students Affairs, University of Ghana in an opening remark expressed the hope that the Club was not going to be a talking shop but “we are going to put things to action.”

“I always say that the difference between us and industrialised or developed countries is that they take research very seriously. They vote millions of dollars to fund research and they take serious action with data and innovation they come with.

“It is about time we got serious as Africans. We are lagging because we do not see the seriousness in merging industry, academic, government, policymakers, and young people – all of us sitting at one table producing ideas and not just government, but private industries putting in money to fund research,” she stated.

Prof Kyerematen said: “I am happy that the Club has been put together, which will hopefully work with industry, policymakers, academia so that when we do our research at the universities, please do not let it just be on the shelves to gather dust. When we come to the trade industry, Bulk, please help us.”

Dr Provencal in a speech said as patrons and club members, they acknowledged the pivotal role young minds played in shaping Ghana and the continent at large and that they would provide a platform to channel energy, creativity, and passion towards advancing AfCFTA objectives to effect meaningful change in communities.

“This can be done through entrepreneurship, startups and dreaming to become some of Africa’s giant production and manufacturing success stories. These, I am informed, are the ideals behind this initiative for which I am today honoured to be chairing,” he stated.

The Chairman said empowering the next generation of leaders with the knowledge and skills to navigate regional trade complexities, fresh avenues would be unlocked for growth and development across Africa, yet the journey toward realizing AfCFTA’s full potential would be fraught with challenges.

“We must confront and address infrastructure deficits, regulatory barriers, and skills shortages that threaten to impede our progress. However, it is precisely in the face of these challenges that our resolve must remain unshakable, and our determination resolute,” he stated.

Dr Provencal said: “As members of the GITFiC-AfCFTA Tertiary Students Club, we bear a responsibility not only to ourselves but to future generations. We must seize the opportunities AfCFTA presents and chart a course toward a more prosperous and inclusive future.

“We must dare to dream big, think boldly, and act decisively in pursuit of our shared aspirations. As members of the GITFiC-AfCFTA Tertiary Students Club, we carry the torch of hope. We can reshape Africa’s narrative, rewriting the story of our continent for generations to come,” he said.

The Centre for Maritime Law and Security (CEMLAWS) has condemned Ghanaians assisting foreigners to register fishing businesses, seeking permits for importing vessels, and obtaining fishing licenses to exploit the country’s resources.

CEMLAWS in a policy draft titled “Enforcement of Beneficial Ownership Requirements to Curb Illegal Foreign Participation in Ghana’s Industrial Fisheries Sector,” was copied to the Ghana News Agency in Tema. 

The policy draft is an output of a two-year project funded under the Bloomberg Philanthropies Vibrant Oceans Initiative, “Enhancing Transparency in the Fisheries Sectors of Benin,” and coordinated by CEMLAWS with project partners in the respective countries.

The document was reviewed by the project lead, Dr Kamal-Deen Ali, who is also the Executive Director of CEMLAWS, together with his officials.

They said although Section 47(1) of the 2002 Fisheries Act (Act 625), intended to safeguard Ghanaians as the beneficiaries of local industrial fishing licenses, “in reality, Ghanaians have been actively assisting foreigners to register fishing businesses using corporate structures, to conceal the actual ownership often through fronting schemes.”

It added that in such schemes, not only do the Ghanaian partners or fronts lose out significantly on the economic benefits, but also the state, and society lose the opportunity to use the fisheries sector for socio-economic development. 

The document noted that a closer observation of the trend revealed that the infiltration of foreigners in Ghana’s fisheries sector was largely due to the failure to implement a beneficial ownership regime.

Currently, a fishing business incorporated, or a fishing vessel registered in Ghana was typically considered to be owned by a Ghanaian, even though the individual served as the legal owner and not the beneficial owner of the business or vessel licensed.

CEMLAWS stated that there was a need to implement and coordinate the enforcement of beneficial ownership regimes within the industrial fisheries sector, noting that such a move would help eliminate foreign involvement and enable Ghana to harness the benefits of coastal resources. 

It said apart from the tuna fisheries sector, there was an outright prohibition against foreign ownership and participation in industrial fisheries, adding that Sections 46 and 47 of the Fisheries Act emphasised three crucial criteria for granting licenses for industrial fishing.

The criteria are industrial fishing without a licence is expressly prohibited; industrial fishing licenses, barring exceptions for tuna fisheries and bare-boat charters, were exclusively issued to vessels that were Ghanaian-owned; and a clear line is drawn between mere legal ownership of a company’s shares and its beneficial ownership or control over the vessel.

It recommended that the Fisheries Commission (FC), and the Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA) institute measures that truly revealed the beneficial ownership of the industrial sector.

This would help address the issues of Ghanaian fronts, opaque schemes, or special purpose vehicles to register and licence foreign fishing vessels to operate in Ghanaian waters,

The Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development (MoFAD), CEMLAWS called for the amendment of the Fisheries Regulations (LI 1968) to ensure that the applicant providing information on shareholding should additionally include beneficial ownership information.

It also recommended that beneficial ownership information of applicants for vessel registration and licenses should be evaluated and investigated, stressing that greater scrutiny was required for corporate shareholders and multi-layered ownership schemes as they could be obfuscating.

The policy draft also suggested that the Fishing Licence Register must contain updated entries on beneficial ownership and ensure that renewal of registrations and licenses was subject to a declaration of beneficial ownership.

It also called for the development of regulations for the submission of beneficial ownership information using the data required by the Registrar of Companies as a baseline with additional industry-specific information.

It said given that industrial fishing was primarily reserved for Ghanaians, the MoFAD and FC must collaborate with the Registrar of Companies to regulate the registration of business entities involving foreign participation.