JOHANNESBURG, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese economy enjoys strong growth momentum and broad development prospects, and the Chinese market remains a safe place for investors, a South African expert has said.
Compared with the fast economic growth from a relatively low baseline decades ago, China is now operating from a higher baseline, pursuing high-quality development, said Gabriel Crouse, a South African policy analyst at the Institute of Race Relations.
"China is continuing to lead the world in new energy vehicles, artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging sectors," Crouse told Xinhua.
Take green development. Crouse said the solar panels used in South Africa are mostly manufactured in China. "China is the world's largest clean energy market and equipment manufacturer. This clearly speaks to its technological and manufacturing prowess," he said.
Noting that many international observers once believed that China's sci-tech development would come to a halt due to U.S. sanctions, he said, "In fact, the reverse seems to be happening: despite the external tensions and pressures, China is continuing to be a global tech leader in important ways."
Citing DeepSeek, a recently launched Chinese AI application that grabbed the world's attention, Crouse spoke highly of Chinese sci-tech innovation as impressive, saying that China is now capable of producing the world's leading language models at dramatically low costs.
Speaking of the headwinds facing the Chinese economy, he said the challenges remain manageable as the Chinese government continues to deepen reform and nurture new growth drivers.
"To see China recognize problems and address them properly reassures investors that the Chinese economy remains a safe place to bet on," Crouse said.
With growing uncertainties in the global market, Crouse said the sound China-South Africa economic and trade partnership has facilitated South Africa's economic growth and sustainable development.
South Africa is one of the first African countries to sign a memorandum of understanding on Belt and Road cooperation with China, and the two sides have carried out in-depth cooperation in fields such as infrastructure construction, green development and trade.
"Infrastructure construction is an important part of African integration, not only in private supply chains but also in public infrastructure capacity integration," Crouse said. ■
