According to official data released on Wednesday, China’s economy expanded at one of the lowest rates in over thirty years last year as a result of the country’s struggles with a severe real estate crisis, weak demand, and unrest throughout the world.
The numbers were expected and exceeded Beijing’s objective, but they will probably put further pressure on policymakers to announce additional stimulus plans to boost the economy and encourage the nation’s army of consumers to start spending again.
China’s gross domestic product increased by 5.2% last year to reach 126 trillion yuan ($17.6 trillion), according to the country’s National Bureau of Statistics.
The reading represents the lowest performance since 1990, excluding the pandemic years, but it is better than the three percent reported in 2022, when tight zero-Covid limits decimated activity.
While the United States and the eurozone, which both increased by roughly two percent in 2022, would undoubtedly be jealous of the 5.2 percent rate, it is still far lower than the levels of six or seven percent that were consistently enjoyed in the 2010s.
After lifting its draconian Covid measures at the end of 2022, Beijing set itself a growth target of “around five percent” for last year.
After a brief post-pandemic upswing, the economy lost momentum in a few of months as consumer and corporate confidence declined.
The nation’s exports, which have historically been a major engine of growth, decreased last year for the first time since 2016, according to data released by the customs office on Friday.
Growth has also been hampered by geopolitical tensions with the US and initiatives by certain Western countries to diversify their supply chains or lessen their reliance on China.
