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China’s gross domestic product grew 5.2 per cent in 2023, slightly beating Beijing’s official target as the world’s second-largest economy grappled with a property sector crisis, falling exports and deflationary pressure.
The GDP figure was equal to a forecast of 5.2 per cent from an analyst poll by Reuters and exceeded the government’s official target of 5 per cent. It also outpaced growth of just 3 per cent in 2022, when the economy was hit by Beijing’s draconian zero-Covid restrictions.
China’s premier Li Qiang on Tuesday pre-empted the official data release by the National Bureau for Statistics, announcing at the World Economic Forum in Davos that the country’s economy had expanded an “estimated” 5.2 per cent.
Li attributed the figure to policymakers’ focus on “strengthening the internal drivers” rather than unleashing massive stimulus as China’s economy emerged from pandemic controls.
But the data on Wednesday highlighted the challenge for President Xi Jinping, who began an unprecedented third five-year term in power last year, to engineering a stronger economic recovery in 2024. Economists said the figure was probably flattered by as much as two percentage points by the low base effect from the pandemic in 2022.
