Yan Se, associate professor, and deputy director of the Institute of Economic Policy Research, Peking University, pointed out that China's economy is embracing a new cycle driven by long-term factors.

In his view, the overcapacity and downward pressure on prices that have plagued China over the past few years have taken on new dimensions amid shifts in the global landscape and technological progress.

Geopolitical conflicts have heightened global uncertainty and triggered a buying spree for resource and industrial products, while the application of AI technology has generated massive energy demand.

Together, these two forces have boosted global demand for manufactured goods, putting China in an advantageous position thanks to its full industrial chain advantages and energy diversification strategy. The better-than-expected growth of China's exports in the first two months of this year is a concrete manifestation of this trend.

Against this backdrop, Yan Se concluded that China's more-than-three-year-long downward price cycle may be turning around, driven by strengthening external demand and rising costs.

He forecast that the producer price index could return to positive growth by the end of June, and that the consumer price index would rise to around 1.5 percent by the end of the year, which would help restore corporate profits and boost consumption.

He also projected that GDP growth in the first quarter would reach 4.6 to 4.7 percent. He stressed that emerging from the old cycle does not depend on traditional policies, but on China's solid industrial and technological strengths.