China’s economy rebounded faster than expected, surpassing growth estimates for the first quarter of the year, after the country relaxed its onerous Covid-19 restrictions and consumer spending surged. The world’s second largest economy grew at a rate of 4.5% compared with the same quarter a year earlier, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. The pace of increase was the fastest in a year and beat the 4% rise forecast by analysts polled by Reuters. China’s consumer economy showed signs of resurgence, with retail sales rising 10.6% in March, representing…
Tag: Chinese economy
Global oil demand on course for record as China’s economy rebounds
Global demand for oil this year is on track to rise to a record 101.9m barrels per day as China leads an economic surge among developing nations, the world’s leading energy body has forecast. The International Energy Agency’s predicted daily average for 2023 is 2m bpd higher than last year’s figure. The price of a barrel of oil rose from $85.62 (£68.44) to $86.10 on Friday morning after the IEA’s report was published. The agency warned that a recent decision by the world’s biggest oil exporters to cut their production…
China to reopen to foreign tourists for first time since Covid crisis
China will reopen its borders to foreign tourists for the first time in the three years since the Covid pandemic erupted by allowing all categories of visas to be issued. The removal of this last cross-border control measure on Wednesday comes after authorities declared victory over the virus last month. Tourist industry insiders do not expect a large influx of visitors in the near future or significant boost to the economy. In 2019, international tourism receipts accounted for just 0.9% of China’s gross domestic product. But the resumption of visa…
Xi Jinping vows to oppose Taiwan ‘pro-independence’ influences as third term begins
Xi Jinping has stressed the need to oppose “pro-independence” influences in Taiwan, as he closed the National People’s Congress (NPC) after a week in which the rubber-stamp parliament handed China’s president an unprecedented third presidential term, and key roles at the top of the government were reshuffled. Xi closed the session with a speech to the gathered delegates. On Friday he secured his place as China’s most powerful leader in generations in a carefully choreographed ceremony in Beijing. In his speech on Monday laying out his priorities for China, Xi…
Confusion surrounds China’s energy policies as GDP and climate goals clash
China’s energy policies are fast creating a type of “emissions ambiguity”, as the twin goals of boosting GDP growth and reducing carbon emissions come into conflict. The uncertainty is whether and when the world’s biggest carbon emitter will start to curb greenhouse gas pollution. The release of the country’s annual statistics communique on Tuesday did not clear things up. As Lauri Myllyvirta, an analyst at Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, noted this month, China’s carbon emissions may have risen 1% or fallen by that amount in 2022.…
Big Buddha and funeral home rights: how China is tackling its massive debt burden
In China’s Sichuan province, Leshan city has plans to sell the operating rights to the Big Buddha, a 71-metre tall Tang dynasty stone statue, in one of a series of creative methods cash-strapped local governments are using raise money. Having spent more than £42bn last year on Covid-prevention measures, and hit by falling tax revenues, by December 2022 local governments had accumulated 35tn yuan (£4.2tn) in debt, up from 30.5tn yuan the previous year. That means that China’s provincial debt burden is roughly 20% bigger than Germany’s total GDP. In…
China’s provinces spent almost £43bn on Covid measures in 2022
Chinese provinces spent more than £42.8bn on tackling Covid-19 in 2022, according to data released by local governments, with the figure expected to rise as the huge cost of the pandemic hits the world’s second-largest economy. Although national statistics are not yet available, at least 20 of China’s 31 provinces have published figures on how much money they spent on measures to control the pandemic. China abandoned its zero-Covid policy in December. It is now trying to revive the sagging economy, which grew by just 3% in 2022, down from…
China’s shrinking population: what it means for the rest of the world – expert panel
China has entered a period of “negative population growth”, an important moment in the history of the country. As recently as 2019, the UN projected the population would peak in 2031-32, but despite major government efforts to reverse the trend, China has now begun what is expected to be a long period of population decline. The ongoing shift in demographics could have a profound effect on everything from how the economy operates to Xi Jinping’s legitimacy. The Guardian spoke to experts about the implications for everything from climate change to…
China’s future to AI and jobs: five big questions from Davos
A number of big themes emerged from the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort Davos. Here are five of most pressing questions that came to dominate this year’s gathering of the global elite. Will China be forced to make friends with the west? Donald Trump’s trade war with China – continued by his successor Joe Biden – has left relations between east and west at rock bottom. But with Covid and trade tensions halving Chinese growth last year to just 3% and western businesses such as Apple moving business…
China’s economy slows sharply with GDP growth among worst on record
China’s GDP expanded at its slowest pace since the mid-1970s bar the Covid-hit 2020 year, as the world’s second-largest economy struggled under tight pandemic restrictions that were abruptly ditched late in 2022. The economy grew 3% last year, well shy of the 5.5% pace the government had targeted at the start of the year and the 8.1% recorded for 2021. The actual rate though, was better than the 2.7% predicted by the World Bank earlier this month. Analysts will focus on the December quarter growth tally of 2.9%, which exceeded…