A worker polishes steel ring in Wandekai Composites Co in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province. Photo: cnsphotos

The Chinese economy appears to be entering a path to recovery, with its official manufacturing index rebounding in March. This is likely one of few comforting updates for the global economy facing a recession amid the coronavirus pandemic, as tangible contributions to the world will likely come alongside China's economic revival.

China has been promoting work resumption since mid-February, offering support to companies manufacturing medical equipment crucial for the battle against the virus. Such an early return to normal production activities has made it possible for the country to speed up its exports of medical supplies to help other countries in the global pandemic fight.

As the latest purchasing managers' index suggests, China's manufacturing sector is on a steady recovery path. With the world's largest manufacturing system and most comprehensive industrial system, a revival in China's manufacturing sector will be conducive to both domestic and world economies, as spillover effects from its active supply chains could promote production normalcy in other countries and regions.

Moreover, with the domestic coronavirus situation gradually stabilizing and economic activities reverting to normalcy, China's financial markets have shown relative stability where global markets have been caught off guard by coronavirus-fueled fears. China is thus far the only major economy to adopt a normal monetary policy, with enhanced counter-cyclical adjustments through regular operations. That means that despite global market turbulence, Chinese financial regulators still have relatively ample room for monetary easing, and tools to counter the impact of the pandemic and deal with the regional financial risks. To a certain extent, maintaining the stability of China's financial market - already a major financial power in the world - is of great importance to global financial stability.

Last but not least, in the post-coronavirus era, China's economic development could focus more on opening up its market, aimed at boosting global trade, investment and growth. Deepening China's ties with the global economy by opening to the outside world is particularly important at this juncture as the coronavirus has dealt a heavy blow to globalization.

China is willing to shoulder its responsibility as a regional power amid a global public health crisis and to contribute to the common prosperity and development of the world economy, but it should be noted that it is still a developing country and is also facing great economic difficulties as a result of the coronavirus. As the global virus spread shuts down businesses in the US and other countries, observers are largely estimating the Chinese economy will see a second wave of impact.

It goes without saying that China will do its best regardless of how the situation develops. In the meantime, we hope China's efforts will be met with active cooperation and coordination from the international community.