The United States'
geopolitical influence in the Asia-Pacific region has been on the rise.
美国在亚太地区的地缘政治影响力正在增强。
China's Belt and Road Initiative is a major
geopolitical strategy to expand its economic reach.
中国的“一带一路”倡议是其扩展经济影响力的地缘政治大计。
Brexit has reshaped the European
geopolitical landscape.
英国脱欧重塑了欧洲的地缘政治格局。
The rivalry between Russia and NATO is a key element of modern
geopolitical dynamics.
俄罗斯与北约之间的竞争是现代地缘政治动态的关键要素。
The Arctic's thawing permafrost poses a
geopolitical challenge as new shipping routes emerge.
北极冰层融化导致新的航道出现，对地缘政治构成挑战。
Geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran have escalated over the past year.
美国和伊朗之间的地缘政治紧张局势在过去一年中升级。
Japan is a key player in the complex geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific region.
日本是印太地区错综复杂地缘政治中的重要角色。
The ongoing conflict in Syria has become a focal point for global
geopolitical interests.
叙利亚冲突已成为全球地缘政治利益的焦点。
Geopolitical alliances, like the Quad (US, Japan, Australia, India), are emerging as counterweights to China's influence.
四国联盟（美、日、澳、印）等地缘政治同盟正在形成，以制衡中国的影响。
Climate change is increasingly becoming a
geopolitical issue, as nations compete for resources and adapt to environmental challenges.
气候变化正日益成为地缘政治议题，各国在资源争夺和应对环境挑战上展开竞争。
The market has become sensitive after being subjected to rounds of toxic Western propaganda that fabricated problems in China's economy by its geopolitical rivals.
在受到西方几轮有毒宣传的影响后，市场变得敏感起来，这些宣传捏造了地缘政治对手在中国经济中的问题。
Huawei Technologies Co's planned factory in France shows its commitment to serve the European market with openness despite challenges and geopolitical uncertainties, experts said.
专家表示，华为技术公司计划在法国建厂，这表明其致力于在面临挑战和地缘政治不确定性的情况下，以开放的态度服务欧洲市场。
"China's share of the global export market has continued to rise steadily, despite geopolitical pressures.
“尽管面临地缘政治压力，中国在全球出口市场的份额仍在稳步上升。
Nvidia Inc is working closely with the US government to ensure new chips for the Chinese market are compliant with export curbs, as the company works hard to navigate the geopolitical uncertainties that increasingly weigh on its business.
英伟达公司正与美国政府密切合作，以确保面向中国市场的新芯片符合出口限制，同时该公司正努力应对地缘政治的不确定性，这些不确定性对其业务造成越来越大的压力。
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical challenges, and short-term economic pressures, Chinese companies have not only survived but thrived in the United Kingdom, where they continue to make a contribution to a prosperous local economy and support the common goals of both countries, a new report shows.
一份新报告显示，尽管新冠肺炎疫情、地缘政治挑战和短期经济压力，中国企业不仅在英国生存下来，而且在英国蓬勃发展，继续为繁荣的当地经济做出贡献，支持两国的共同目标。
"The ongoing shifts in Asia, whether economic, technological or geopolitical, are creating change and pressure at a level not seen for decades.
“亚洲正在发生的变化，无论是经济、技术还是地缘政治，都在造成几十年来从未见过的变化和压力。
More investment, bigger factories and deeper cooperation here in the Chinese market are testament of Japan's Omron Healthcare's firm determination in developing in China despite the complex world economic and geopolitical situations, said its top executive at the ongoing China International Import Expo in Shanghai.
在上海举行的中国国际进口博览会上，日本奥姆龙医疗的高管表示，尽管世界经济和地缘政治形势复杂，但该公司在中国市场的更多投资、更大的工厂和更深入的合作证明了其在中国发展的坚定决心。
Q1 Given the complex current global economic and geopolitical situations, how do you position the Chinese market in your overall global business radar?
Q1鉴于当前复杂的全球经济和地缘政治形势，您如何在全球商业雷达中定位中国市场？
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, China has become one of the world's largest importers of agricultural products, and the country continues to play a key role in promoting global trade growth amid climatic and geopolitical challenges disrupting international trade.
农业农村部表示，中国已成为世界上最大的农产品进口国之一，在气候和地缘政治挑战扰乱国际贸易的情况下，中国继续在促进全球贸易增长方面发挥关键作用。
Chen acknowledged that factors such as geopolitical tensions, economic slowdown and a deteriorating business environment in some countries have posed serious challenges to ZTE's operations in overseas markets.
陈承认，地缘政治紧张、经济放缓和一些国家商业环境恶化等因素对中兴通讯在海外市场的运营构成了严重挑战。
However, the impact of geopolitical tensions is weighing on companies striving for a global presence, he said.
然而，他表示，地缘政治紧张局势的影响正在给争取全球业务的公司带来压力。
"The ongoing tussle between China and the United States, and the unstable global industrial chain due to geopolitical tensions, must be taken into consideration while making global investment strategy, as there may be invisible obstacles affecting implementation efficiency and investment returns," he added.
他补充道：“在制定全球投资战略时，必须考虑到中美之间持续的争斗，以及地缘政治紧张局势导致的全球产业链不稳定，因为可能存在影响实施效率和投资回报的无形障碍。”。
"In the long term, geopolitical tensions may be transitory disruptions.
“从长远来看，地缘政治紧张局势可能是暂时性的干扰。
Xiang Ligang, director-general of the Information Consumption Alliance, said domestic companies are expected to gain a bigger share in the global database market amid growing geopolitical uncertainties, and such a trend is already being seen in the financial and telecommunications sectors.
信息消费联盟（Information Consumer Alliance）总干事项立刚表示，在地缘政治不确定性日益增加的情况下，预计国内公司将在全球数据库市场获得更大的份额，金融和电信行业已经出现了这种趋势。
United States venture capital giant Sequoia Capital announced plans on Tuesday to split off its Chinese as well as Indian and Southeast Asian businesses into two independent firms amid economic and geopolitical challenges.
美国风险投资巨头红杉资本周二宣布，在经济和地缘政治挑战中，计划将其中国、印度和东南亚业务拆分为两家独立公司。
Despite challenges such as geopolitical uncertainties, the United States remains the number one focus market for many Chinese companies that aim to go global, a senior executive at Israeli mobile marketing analytics company AppsFlyer said.
以色列移动营销分析公司AppsFlyer的一位高管表示，尽管面临地缘政治不确定性等挑战，但美国仍然是许多旨在走向全球的中国公司的头号重点市场。
Despite the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, soaring prices of various industrial materials and geopolitical fragmentation, BSH's sales revenue grew by 2.5 percent on a yearly basis to 15.9 billion euros ($17.27 billion) in its 2022 fiscal year.
尽管新冠肺炎疫情、各种工业材料价格飙升和地缘政治分裂造成了混乱，但BSH在2022财年的销售收入同比增长2.5%，达到159亿欧元（172.7亿美元）。
Despite lingering geopolitical tensions that have ignited discussions about whether China can retain its attractiveness among foreign businesses, Smith told China Daily she is "very excited" about the market potential in China and is expanding Sandpiper's investment in the country.
尽管地缘政治紧张局势挥之不去，引发了关于中国能否在外国企业中保持吸引力的讨论，但史密斯告诉《中国日报》，她对中国的市场潜力感到“非常兴奋”，并正在扩大Sandpiper在中国的投资。
Such a position will not be easily altered despite the geopolitical tensions and Washington's restrictions on exports of crucial semiconductor technologies to China, experts added.
专家补充道，尽管地缘政治紧张，华盛顿限制向中国出口关键半导体技术，但这种立场不会轻易改变。
Despite facing geopolitical risks, rising unilateralism and protectionism, and strengthened requirements for compliance management this year, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China will continue to promote international operations, a senior executive of the bank said on Friday.
中国工商银行一位高管周五表示，尽管今年面临地缘政治风险、单边主义和保护主义抬头以及合规管理要求加强，但该行仍将继续推进国际业务。
"In 2022, the company encountered complicated, fickle and severe conditions, including global economic slowdown, geopolitical conflicts and weak domestic market demand," said Ma Yongsheng, chairman of Sinopec Corp. "In 2023, we will seize the favorable opportunity arising from steady development of domestic economy and the recovery of demand for petroleum and petrochemical products, insist on driving growth in a stable manner and strive to achieve effective quality improvement in different businesses and reasonable volume growth," he said.
马永生表示：“2022年，公司遇到了复杂、多变和严峻的形势，包括全球经济放缓、地缘政治冲突和国内市场需求疲软。”，他表示：“2023年，我们将抓住国内经济稳步发展和石油石化产品需求复苏的有利机遇，坚持以稳定的方式推动增长，努力实现不同业务的质量有效提高和数量合理增长。”。
"He added, "In terms of geopolitical issues, it is suggested that Chinese enterprises establish a strong, sustainable risk management and corresponding mechanism to cope with crises in different countries and regions.
他补充道，“在地缘政治问题上，建议中国企业建立一个强大的、可持续的风险管理和相应的机制，以应对不同国家和地区的危机。
Even though China's export growth rate slowed in November due to a variety of factors such as softening overseas demand and geopolitical tensions, market watchers have expressed optimism over prospects for the country's trade sector in 2023, believing that its industrial upgrading and moves to optimize COVID-19 prevention measures will further facilitate domestic manufacturers to expand their market channels abroad, as well as help boost global economic recovery.
尽管由于海外需求疲软和地缘政治紧张局势等多种因素，中国11月的出口增长率有所放缓，但市场观察人士对2023年中国贸易部门的前景表示乐观，相信其产业升级和优化新冠肺炎预防措施的举措将进一步促进国内制造商扩大海外市场渠道，并有助于推动全球经济复苏。
As He understands things, ACE's investment strategy in China has proved valid especially over the past three years, when the market is more frequently disrupted by "black swan" or "gray rhino" events such as geopolitical tensions or inflation.
据他所知，ACE在中国的投资策略已被证明是有效的，尤其是在过去三年里，当市场更频繁地被地缘政治紧张局势或通货膨胀等“黑天鹅”或“灰犀牛”事件扰乱时。
This must have been a difficult year for owners and top executives of many companies as headwinds from geopolitical tensions, rising commodity prices, high-flying inflation, global economic recession, COVID-19 coming into its third year, to name just a few, have deepened markets' complexities.
对于许多公司的所有者和高管来说，今年一定是艰难的一年，因为地缘政治紧张局势、大宗商品价格上涨、高通胀、全球经济衰退、新冠肺炎即将进入第三个年头等不利因素加深了市场的复杂性。
Despite geopolitical instability, Chinese enterprises have not slowed their pace of development in these countries, Zhou said.
周说，尽管地缘政治不稳定，但中国企业在这些国家的发展步伐并没有放慢。
Another point they might ponder in the near term is how global companies could achieve better growth in China in an increasingly complex global geopolitical and macroeconomic environment.
他们近期可能会思考的另一点是，在日益复杂的全球地缘政治和宏观经济环境中，全球公司如何在中国实现更好的增长。
Zhou Mi, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation in Beijing, said those countries need to uplift trade and investment activities, as well as enhance openness and interconnectivity, especially as the global economy is suffering from geopolitical and geoeconomic headwinds.
位于北京的中国国际贸易经济合作研究院高级研究员周密表示，这些国家需要提升贸易和投资活动，加强开放和互联互通，尤其是在全球经济正遭受地缘政治和地缘经济逆风之际。
Coordinated efforts have been made to maintain stable production and operations, which is especially important against the backdrop of escalating geopolitical tensions and fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, Luo said.
罗说，各方已协调努力，以保持稳定的生产和运营，这在地缘政治紧张局势升级和新冠肺炎疫情影响的背景下尤为重要。
Multiple factors such as climate change, environmental disasters, the COVID-19 pandemic, commodity price spikes and an increasingly complex geopolitical landscape, among others, make the environment really challenging.
气候变化、环境灾难、新冠肺炎疫情、大宗商品价格飙升和日益复杂的地缘政治格局等多重因素使环境真正具有挑战性。
"These moves will bolster cross-border business activity and speed up the global economic recovery, which is hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical tension and interest-rate hikes in developed economies," Zhao said.
赵表示：“这些举措将促进跨境商业活动，加快全球经济复苏，而全球经济复苏受到新冠肺炎疫情、地缘政治紧张局势和发达经济体加息的阻碍。”。
Despite the multiple external and internal headwinds such as geopolitical tensions, the pandemic, and the pressure from some US politicians to decouple from China, experts and business leaders expect China to continue to attract foreign investment in the future, as its supersized domestic market continues to expand while its importance in the global industry and supply chains keeps increasing amid its steady economic upgrading and high-level opening-up.
尽管存在地缘政治紧张局势、疫情以及一些美国政客要求与中国脱钩的压力等多重内外阻力，但专家和商界领袖预计，中国未来将继续吸引外国投资，随着其超大规模的国内市场不断扩大，同时在全球产业和供应链中的重要性不断增加，经济稳步升级和高水平开放。
Ma Mingzhe, chairman of Ping An Insurance, said although geopolitical tensions and COVID-19 continues to bring uncertainties to the company's business, the fundamentals of the Chinese economy remain strong and the country's insurance market still has large potential for growth.
平安保险董事长马明哲表示，尽管地缘政治紧张局势和新冠肺炎继续给公司业务带来不确定性，但中国经济的基本面仍然强劲，中国保险市场仍有很大的增长潜力。
Chinese mainland innovative technology companies that are listed in the United States will likely move back to Hong Kong or Chinese mainland capital markets in the second half of 2022, fueled by several factors like domestic policy incentives and to avoid potential geopolitical uncertainties, according to a new report from global consultancy PwC.
根据全球咨询公司普华永道（PwC）的一份新报告，在美国上市的中国大陆创新科技公司可能会在2022年下半年重返香港或中国大陆资本市场，这是由国内政策激励等多个因素推动的，也是为了避免潜在的地缘政治不确定性。
Chen Duan, director of the Digital Economy Integration Innovation Development Center at the Central University of Finance and Economics, said regulatory uncertainty is one of the major issues confronting US-listed Chinese mainland companies, and some companies that are listed or planning to go public in the US may opt for Hong Kong or the Chinese mainland capital markets to avoid potential geopolitical risks.
中央财经大学数字经济融合创新发展中心主任陈端表示，监管的不确定性是在美上市的中国内地公司面临的主要问题之一，一些在美国上市或计划上市的公司可能会选择香港或中国大陆资本市场，以避免潜在的地缘政治风险。
Chen Duan, director of the Digital Economy Integration Innovation Development Center at the Central University of Finance and Economics, said regulatory uncertainty is one of the major issues confronting US-listed Chinese mainland companies, and some companies that are listed or planning to go public in the US, may opt for Hong Kong or the Chinese mainland capital markets so as to avoid potential geopolitical risks.
中央财经大学数字经济融合创新发展中心主任陈端表示，监管的不确定性是在美上市的中国内地公司面临的主要问题之一，一些在美上市或计划上市的公司，可能选择香港或中国内地资本市场，以避免潜在的地缘政治风险。
An analyst said domestic coal suppliers' efforts in ramping up energy output will further ensure domestic power supply to avoid possible shortages against a backdrop of geopolitical tensions and extreme weather conditions like heatwaves.
一位分析师表示，在地缘政治紧张局势和热浪等极端天气条件的背景下，国内煤炭供应商提高能源产量的努力将进一步确保国内电力供应，避免可能出现的短缺。
Boeing said it is disappointing that geopolitical differences continue to constrain US aircraft exports, and it called for productive dialogue between the US and China.
波音公司表示，令人失望的是，地缘政治分歧继续限制美国飞机出口，并呼吁美中之间进行富有成效的对话。
"There are also geopolitical aspects to this," Cui said.
“这也有地缘政治方面的问题，”崔说。
Cross-border container transportation is a cyclical sector largely impacted by a variety of factors like the pandemic, geopolitical situations and the consequent economic prospects of different markets, according to a study published by the association last month.
该协会上个月发表的一项研究显示，跨境集装箱运输是一个周期性行业，在很大程度上受到各种因素的影响，如疫情、地缘政治局势以及由此产生的不同市场的经济前景。
A: In recent years, global economic risks have risen considerably amidst growing geopolitical conflicts, spreading inflation and supply chain disruptions.
A： 近年来，在地缘政治冲突加剧、通货膨胀蔓延和供应链中断的情况下，全球经济风险大幅上升。
The performance came as Lenovo successfully overcame macro-environmental challenges and demonstrated both agility and resilience by navigating industry-wide supply shortages, pandemic disruptions, geopolitical uncertainties and higher inflation.
联想取得这一业绩之际，联想成功克服了宏观环境挑战，并通过应对全行业供应短缺、疫情中断、地缘政治不确定性和高通胀，展示了灵活性和韧性。
"The impact of the epidemic and global geopolitical risks may continue in the short term, but we think the fundamentals of a resilient, high-potential and prosperous economy in China remain intact," Zhang told Xinhua.
张对新华社表示：“疫情和全球地缘政治风险的影响可能在短期内持续，但我们认为，中国经济的韧性、高潜力和繁荣的基本面仍然完好无损。”。
Li Ziyue, of the strategic research provider BloombergNEF, said CNOOC's oil and gas production will rise more than 6 percent annually from 2022 through 2024, and its steady ramping up of oil and gas production is critical to China's energy security, especially against the current geopolitical tensions, which have pushed commodity prices to new highs.
战略研究提供商BloombergNEF的李子跃表示，从2022年到2024年，中海油的油气产量将每年增长6%以上，其油气产量的稳步增长对中国的能源安全至关重要，尤其是在当前地缘政治紧张局势将大宗商品价格推至新高的情况下。
"Improved air capacity will further increase Chinese companies' global expansion while effectively solving the logistics backlog and other uncertainties caused by current geopolitical tensions.
“空运能力的提高将进一步增加中国公司的全球扩张，同时有效解决当前地缘政治紧张局势造成的物流积压和其他不确定性。
"There are so many lingering factors impacting oil prices, such as geopolitical, macroeconomic factors, policy implementation of OPEC+ and the strength of the greenback.
“影响油价的因素很多，如地缘政治、宏观经济因素、欧佩克+的政策实施和美元走强。
Editor's Note: Amid challenges including geopolitical tensions and the tightening policies by major central banks, the focus has been on how the two sessions－the annual sittings of China's national legislature and top political advisory body－will map out this year's policy agenda to navigate the world's second-largest economy through headwinds and further open up its vast market to the rest of the world.
编者按：在地缘政治紧张局势和主要央行紧缩政策等挑战中，人们关注的焦点是，中国全国人大和最高政治咨询机构的年度两会将如何制定今年的政策议程，以引导这个世界第二大经济体渡过难关，并进一步向世界其他地区开放其庞大的市场。
The Reuters report named SK Hynix as the next victim of this geopolitical struggle.
路透社的报道将SK海力士列为这场地缘政治斗争的下一个受害者。
Neil Nerwich, group medical director at International SOS, said: "The COVID-19 pandemic has created a tripartite of crises, with public health, geopolitical and economic crises all impacting the workforce and business on a global scale.
国际SOS集团医疗总监尼尔·奈维奇表示：“COVID-19大流行造成了一个三重危机，公共卫生、地缘政治和经济危机都在全球范围内对劳动力和企业产生影响。”
Lenovo said challenges will continue this year, including ongoing geopolitical uncertainties, component supply shortages resulting from strong demand and the COVID-19 pandemic.
联想表示，今年将继续面临一系列挑战，包括持续的地缘政治不确定性、因需求强劲和COVID-19大流行导致的组件供应短缺。
High gold prices could also continue to find support this year from the safe-haven appeal due to geopolitical tensions amid a low-to-negative interest-rate environment and expanding global money supply.
今年黄金价格可能继续受到避险需求的支撑，因为地缘政治紧张局势犹存，利率处于低位甚至负值区间，以及全球货币供应扩张。
Lenovo said challenges will continue in 2021, including ongoing geopolitical uncertainties, component supply shortages resulting from strong demand and the global COVID-19 pandemic.
联想表示，2021年将继续面临挑战，包括持续的地缘政治不确定性、因需求强劲而导致的组件供应短缺以及全球COVID-19大流行。
Geopolitical risks, and dynamic or unstable policy environment, created big headaches in the form of uncertainty or unpredictability for corporates.
地缘政治风险和动态或不稳定的政策环境给企业带来了巨大的困扰，表现为不确定性或不可预测性。
Since the outbreak of the pandemic, geopolitical turmoil across the world has intensified and global political instabilities have increased, said Cai Xiliang, vice-chairman of Sinosure, adding that global industrial chains and supply chains have also been greatly affected.
中投协副会长蔡希良表示，自疫情暴发以来，全球地缘政治动荡加剧，政治不稳定性上升，全球产业链供应链也受到严重影响。
"Any significant level of uncertainty, particularly if it is geopolitical, is not good for business," he said.
他说：“任何程度的重大不确定性，尤其是地缘政治方面的，对商业都不是好事。”
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd said it would steer clear of looming geopolitical tension and adjust international businesses accordingly after it reported higher-than-expected sales in the second quarter of this year.
"Globalization is our long-term strategy, but in the near term we are closely monitoring the changes in the geopolitical environment, and also the national policy of other countries, and we will adjust our strategies according to this change," Zhang said.
Analysts from JPMorgan Chase & Co said in a report earlier this month that geopolitical tension between the two major economies could exert a negative impact on the growth of Chinese internet companies such as Alibaba, Tencent Holdings Ltd and NetEase Inc in the mid-to-longer term as they might encounter obstacles to international expansion.
The company also said in a statement that the last quarter had presented multiple industrywide business challenges, including ongoing geopolitical uncertainties and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Zhou said that rising geopolitical tensions and trade friction between the US and China have already put pressure on the stock prices of US-listed Chinese companies, and the cost of maintaining a US listing continues to rise as regulatory pressures mount.
Liu said the Belt and Road Initiative is beneficial for Chinese enterprises to expand overseas as there are not many geopolitical and tariff barriers in the participating countries and regions.
The results showcase the company's world-class operations and strategic execution capability in delivering a record-setting performance, despite the geopolitical uncertainties and industry-wide supply shortages last quarter, Lenovo added.
Yang said the recent geopolitical volatility and ongoing trade dispute between China and the United States have dampened consumer sentiment, and the company is keeping a close eye on that.
The Shenzhen-based company added that "Oliveira is taking advantage of the current geopolitical situation.
"Oliveira is taking advantage of the current geopolitical situation.
Xiang Ligang, director-general of the Information Consumption Alliance, a telecom industry association, said the strong results show that Lenovo is outperforming rivals in the PC sector, despite global geopolitical uncertainty.
"Despite all of the geopolitical tensions that exist in the world, between China and the US, we continue to build our US business carefully," said Michael Evans, president of Alibaba, reported Yahoo Finance.
"But he said that beyond technical considerations, there may be "geopolitical grounds" for the government to ban Huawei's equipment.
"But he said beyond technical considerations, there may be "geopolitical grounds" for the government to ban Huawei's equipment.
Lyu Tingjie, a professor at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, said Huawei has demonstrated strong resilience toward all the geopolitical pressure, and its consistent research and development input will help it overcome all the challenges.
Guo said the company is highly likely to achieve double-digit growth this year, despite growing geopolitical pressure amid the worldwide security debate over 5G.
However, Leser sees tourism as a robust industry because while “tensions have come and gone, geopolitical issues, as well as other short-term issues or other phenomena, have always been the case”.
"I don't think it looks like a realistic valuation, given that it said in a filing it can't guarantee that Mobike or its business as a whole will achieve profitability in the future," said Lam Ka-kei, managing director of Hong Kong-based Grand View Securities Ltd. "Despite its dominance in mainland's $1.3 trillion food delivery and online services industry, and the backing from large hedge funds, the company may still be penalized for a geopolitical storm and global stock sell-offs beyond its control," Lam said.
Geopolitical shift: China has changed the international landscape to become one of the main drivers of the global economy.
Ren Hongbin, chairman of China National Machinery Industry Corp, known as Sinomach, said Chinese EPC firms are facing various challenges, including international competition, geopolitical risks, tricky financing, and conflicts of culture.
"In Latvia, the company combined its own productive and technological advantages with Latvia's geopolitical and labor force advantages, and created an ideal production and shipping formula which conquered the market, Wang elaborated.
Although the figure dropped 8 percent last year from 2022, it was still the third highest in history, on a high base and amid shrinking cross-country investment globally, triggered by slowing world economic growth, rising geopolitical risks and weakening external demand.
Despite geopolitical tensions and uncertainties, the world needs trade to restore growth, the head of the World Trade Organization told audiences at the World Economic Forum, which concluded on Friday in Davos, Switzerland.
"Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that geopolitical instability also poses risks to supply chains and international trade.
He said the geopolitical context is changing and becoming much more conflictual, posing the risk of economic fragmentation.
China-Europe freight train services will continue to play a key role this year, facilitating foreign trade amid China's ongoing industrial upgrade and a growing inclination among companies to seek greater efficiency while circumventing geopolitical uncertainties, said analysts and exporters.
Brende highlighted the unique challenges of this year's meeting, which takes place against the backdrop of the most complex geopolitical landscape in decades.
The obstacles to China's accession into the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership primarily exist in two aspects: the gap between China's current level of openness and that required by the CPTPP, and the potential disruption from geopolitical issues.
The real obstacle for China in joining CPTPP lies in geopolitical interference.
However, weighed down by sluggish external demand, rising trade protectionism, intensifying geopolitical tensions and recent disruptions to key trade routes, the country may still face severe challenges, they added, calling for more favorable policies to help businesses navigate the mounting headwinds in trade.
The outlook for global trade in 2024 remains "highly uncertain and generally pessimistic", the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development said in a report released in mid-December, citing factors such as ongoing geopolitical tensions, escalating debt and widespread economic fragility.
"It has become clearer that more efforts are expected to be made to encourage companies to achieve breakthroughs in key technologies like chips and overcome other technical bottlenecks this year, amid intensified global competition and geopolitical uncertainties," said Hong Qunlian, a researcher at the National Development and Reform Commission's Academy of Macroeconomic Research.
There are "strong reasons" to invest in the A-share market this year, including the market's low sensitivity to geopolitical tensions and global liquidity, supportive government policies and this year's growth target, said Lau.
Ongoing geopolitical tensions, lower demand in developed countries, an uptick in trade-restrictive measures, commodity price volatility and lengthening supply chains were among the factors weighing on trade, UNCTAD warned.
In addition, ongoing geopolitical tensions and major-power competitions will continue to steer structural adjustments in China's foreign trade.
Their comments echoed a recent report by Fitch Ratings, which said the move by global and Chinese companies to relocate production away from China amid rising trade barriers and geopolitical tensions remains limited to sectors involving low-skill assembly and mass production, such as textiles, apparel and footwear, with manufacturers persisting with higher value-added production in China.
The outlook for global trade in 2024 remains "highly uncertain and generally pessimistic", the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development said in a report released on Dec 11, citing factors such as ongoing geopolitical tensions, escalating debt and widespread economic fragility.
Though slow global economic development, weak demand, and a volatile geopolitical environment have led some firms to consider diversifying supply chains, the relocation of activities outside of China remains a minor phenomenon, Eskelund said.
Against the backdrop of heightened geopolitical tensions, global growth sluggishness and domestic economic transformation, the recently concluded Central Economic Work Conference called for efforts to pursue progress while ensuring stability, consolidating recovery through progress and "establishing the new before abolishing the old".
Former WTO chief: Technology, ideology, peace key to pushing open world economyThough facing challenges such as increasing geopolitical tensions and turmoil brought on by shifts in global economic dynamics, the world will likely avoid an era of de-globalization but will instead see the pace of globalization slow amid a more secure new phase, said Pascal Lamy, former director-general of the World Trade Organization.
In addition, the multiplying and expanding geopolitical tensions, such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict, are exacerbating worldwide turbulence and taking a toll on geoeconomics and globalization as well.
But now, some of these 'winds' are blowing in different directions due to the rise of geopolitical conflicts, more fragmented ideological differences about the benefits of openness, and the risks of fragmentation in the digital age," Lamy said.
China's efforts to realize more trade settlements in RMB, geopolitical concerns, bilateral currency swaps between the People's Bank of China and more than 30 central banks, and the increasing number of RMB clearing centers offering more RMB liquidity offshore, have all contributed to the wider use of the Chinese currency in the international market.
The official attributed the recent volatility in investment data to a drastically changing external environment with rising geopolitical risks, misunderstanding of China's real conditions due to pandemic-disrupted communications, and the normal transfer of some labor-intensive industries amid shifting comparative advantages.
Market mavens are quick to observe that over the past few years, geopolitical tensions have not only shaken many investors' confidence, but cast a long shadow over the global markets.