From the AP via ABC (U.S.) News, December 14:
The World Bank is forecasting that China's economy will slow next year, with annual growth falling to 4.5% from 5.2% this year
China's economy grew at a 5.2% pace in the first three quarters of the year and showed signs of improvement in November, with factory output and retail sales rising, the government said Friday.
But investments in property sank 9.4%, the National Bureau of Statistics said, indicating the real estate sector has yet to recover from a crisis that has led dozens of developers to default on hundreds of billions of dollars in debts.
The world’s second-largest economy is still contending from the setbacks of the COVID-19 pandemic, among other shocks, dogged by weakness in the property sector and in global demand for China’s exports, high debt levels and wavering consumer confidence.
The 10.1% jump in retail sales in November from a year earlier, up from a 7.6% jump in October, showed a glimmer of hope given that sluggish consumer spending has been a key factor hindering a stronger recovery.
But it's unclear if it will be sustained. A survey of factory purchasing managers, called the purchasing manager index, or PMI, showed a slightly bigger contraction in factory activity compared with October, a fact that statistics bureau spokesperson Liu Aihua said was partly due to the fact that some industries were entering their usual off season after holiday production rushes.
But Liu added that “at the same time there is insufficient market demand.” Liu told reporters in Beijing....
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Here's the World Bank press release and report download page, December 14:
"Sustained policy support and deeper structural reforms to revive China’s growth momentum - World Bank Report"
Here's the China Daily spin, December 15:
The World Bank has estimated that China's economy would grow 5.2 percent in 2023, propelled by a gradual recovery of consumer sentiment and policy stimulus.
As global growth is projected to remain tepid at 2.4 percent next year, the world's second-largest economy is expected to expand by 4.5 percent in 2024, according to the latest China Economic Update, released by the World Bank on Thursday.
"There remains the likelihood of a protracted recovery in the real estate sector and persistently tepid external demand. To bolster growth, the government is expected to uphold a moderately expansionary fiscal and monetary policy stance in 2024," noted the document, titled Which Way Forward? Navigating China's Post-Pandemic Growth Path.
The country has already announced such policy adjustments at the annual Central Economic Work Conference, which was held in Beijing on Monday and Tuesday to set the country's economic policy priorities for 2024....
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