The Chinese government has just inscribed, as part of its 14th five-year plan (2021-2025), a new development dynamic that is based on its role as a pillar of the domestic circuit and the mutual reinforcement of the national and international circuits.

This new dynamic aims to contribute to quality development because, since its accession to the WTO in 2001, China has actively participated in the international economic circuit. Exports based on foreign financing and the foreign market have made the reputation of the Asian manufacturing giant.

In full evolution today, China's GDP per capita reaches more than $10,000. It has reached a stage where it needs to rely more on innovation to avoid the middle-income trap and move upmarket its economy.

The new dynamic is also a response to a rapidly changing international environment at a time when the global economy is no longer the one after the 2008 financial crisis. The rise of populism and protectionism is undermining globalization. Added to this are disruptions to global industrial and supply chains, exacerbated by Covid-19. For a country like China, it is important to strengthen its economic resilience through the development of the domestic circuit.

Also, this strategy responds above all to the inherent need of the Large and Promising Chinese market where consumption has become the main driver of the country's growth over the past six years, as the middle class, strong of 400 million people, unleashes its purchasing power.

China is expected to become the world's largest retail market this year. This strong domestic demand attracts foreign capital and products, thus opening up new prospects for China's interaction with the world, which, in turn, will boost domestic economic activities, hence the mutual reinforcement of the two circuits.

For the Chinese government, the new dynamic is not to develop a closed domestic circuit, but to value both the domestic and international circuits, and to promote greater openness.

A more open financial sector

China's third International Import Expo sealed deals worth more than $72 billion. The financial sector is significantly more open after the removal of restrictions on foreign capital participation a year earlier than expected.

As China looks to the future, Africa is accelerating the implementation of its Agenda 2063 for a Strong and Prosperous Africa. The recent Extraordinary Session of the AU Assembly adopted a decision on the start of trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) which entered into force on 1 January 2021.

An important milestone in the integration process of the African continent, the AfCFTA, in which a vast market covering more than 1.3 billion people and a total GDP of $2.5 trillion will strengthen China-Africa cooperation while providing new opportunities for building an even stronger China-Africa community of shared future, including the Trade volume in 2019 was $208.7 billion, twenty times more than in 2000.

As part of its cooperation with Africa, China is willing to promote synergies with the development strategy for free trade and integration of industrial and supply chains, and intensify cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative to help Africa to take better advantage of the Chinese market and better integrate into the international economic circuit.