To improve lives, the details count

'A rapid return'

China's GDP grew 4.9 percent year-on-year in the third quarter, compared with growth of 3.2 percent between April and June, suggesting "a rapid return to the pre-COVID trend", according to US economist Stephen Roach, former chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia.

"In this sense, the fact that China seems on track to record positive growth this year is obviously welcome," Raiser said.

However, as the rest of the world recovers, one would expect China's trade surplus to shrink, he said.

World Bank President David Malpass warned recently that the coronavirus may have driven as many as 100 million people back into extreme poverty and that "that number could go higher" if the pandemic worsens or drags on.

The pandemic will reverse the progress made since the 1990s in reducing global poverty and will increase inequality, the IMF said in its outlook.

People who rely on daily wage labor and are outside the formal safety net faced sudden income losses when mobility restrictions were imposed. Among them, migrant workers who live far from home had even less recourse to traditional support networks, the outlook said.

The World Bank's chief economist Carmen Reinhart said the global economy may take up to five years to recover from the crisis caused by the pandemic.

In April, the World Bank and the G20 finance ministers endorsed the Debt Service Suspension Initiative, or DSSI, in response to a call by the World Bank and the IMF to grant debt-service suspension to the poorest countries to help them manage the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"China is a member of the G20 and as such participates in the DSSI initiative," Raiser said. "This is very important, because China is an important creditor to many of the poorest countries."

The United States, China and other G20 countries on Nov 13 agreed for the first time on a common approach for restructuring government debt as the coronavirus crisis leaves some poorer countries at risk of default, Reuters reported.

In a video speech delivered at a UN General Assembly session in late September, President Xi said China will honor its commitment to provide $2 billion in international assistance over two years, further international collaboration in fields including agriculture, poverty-reduction and climate change, and support other countries in restoring economic and social development.