Asia's role as global growth driver in focus

Asian economies, with real GDP growth projected to be 4.5 percent for 2025, will continue to play a crucial role in driving global economic stability and growth, said a report released on Tuesday at the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2025.

The forum comes soon after the China Development Forum 2025, which ended on Monday, and gathered top government officials and business leaders from across the globe. Experts said the forums' key message is crystal clear, that Asia — spearheaded by China — is reinforcing its commitment to openness and stability, presenting a sharp contrast to the rising economic isolation featured by the United States' arbitrary sanctions and tariffs.

The "Asian Economic Outlook and Integration Progress Annual Report 2025", which was released on Tuesday, forecast that the share of Asian economies' GDP in the world economy will rise from 36.1 percent in 2024 to 36.4 percent in 2025. In terms of purchasing power parity, a metric comparing economic productivity and standards of living between countries, Asia's share of the global economy is projected to rise from 48.1 percent to 48.6 percent this year.

Economies including China, India, Vietnam, the Philippines, Mongolia, Cambodia and Indonesia are expected to maintain a high growth rate of over 5 percent this year, the report said.

Zhang Yuyan, a renowned economist and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said, "Such an economic performance means that Asia, as a key driver of the world economy, is set to benefit from global economic stabilization in 2025 and will also play a crucial role in contributing to this stability."

The report also said that despite economic uncertainties, including monetary policy shifts in major economies such as the US and the European Union, and geopolitical tensions, most Asian stock markets are expected to maintain an upward trend this year.

Amid such growth, China remains the region's most attractive destination for foreign investors. China's vibrant innovation in fields such as artificial intelligence, reflected by DeepSeek, has reinforced its status as a safe haven for entrepreneurship in a world where US sanctions pose increasing risks.

Zhou Xiaochuan, a former governor of the People's Bank of China, said at the conference: "China is responding to global demands with responsibility and courage, continuing to provide stability and certainty to the world. As the year 2025 marks the conclusion of China's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), China will further deepen comprehensive reforms and expand high-level opening-up.

"China will adopt a more proactive fiscal policy and a moderately accommodative monetary policy, boost consumption, enhance investment efficiency and expand domestic demand across all sectors," he said.

Notably, the report highlighted that the trade war, which was initiated by the US in 2018, has not improved the US' standing in global manufacturing value chains. Instead, the gap between China and the US in this sector has widened.

Global intermediate goods trade has become more dependent on China than on North America. In 2023, the dependency on China stood at 16 percent, compared with 15 percent for North America, the report said.

Lin Guijun, former vice-president of the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, said: "The latest US tariffs have an impact on all major trade partners, not just China. Other nations are reacting in a fragmented and weak manner, lacking coordinated responses."

Zhang, from the CASS, said: "While international cooperation once aimed at mutual benefit, many nations have shifted toward a zero-sum game, and with the US' new trade measures, the situation has now worsened to a negative-sum game, where countries accept their own losses as long as their rivals suffer even more."

"But the world needs a more open economy based on cooperation and shared prosperity. True success comes not just from personal gain but from lifting others up as well," he said.

With the theme of "Asia in the Changing World: Towards a Shared Future", the four-day event has attracted nearly 2,000 participants from more than 60 countries and regions, according to the forum's organizing committee.

Claus Rettig, president of German specialty chemicals giant Evonik Asia Pacific, who is attending this year's forum, said: "We have unwavering confidence in China's growth. The Asia-Pacific region is one of Evonik's fastest-expanding markets, and China sits at its core with the largest market share.

"China is the world's top chemical market, backed by a robust infrastructure and a deeply integrated supply chain," he added. "We see China's economic strength as a solid foundation for growth and remain committed to expanding our investment here."