China’s GDP At 5.2 Percent, The Weakest Since 1990

The Chinese Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has expanded 5.2 percent in 2023, to hit 126 trillion Yuan i.e. $17.6 trillion, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported. The Chinese official figures show that, the year gone by witnessed one of the worst performances by the economy in the last three decades. The year had to fight property crisis, global chaos and slow levels of consumption.

This is an improvement over the year, 2022, where, the economy had to slow its beat owing to the pandemic. When excluding the years swallowed by the pandemic, this is the year of weakest performance since the year 1990 – since more than three decades, said the TOI. The figures by the officials are the only source to know the pulse of the country despite its political standing.

On Tuesday, at the Annual Meeting of the Global Elites at Davos, the Chinese Premier Li Qiang spoke of the country’s economy as an economy which could provide opportunities. He said that the economy would remain open to the world, no matter, however situations change.

As 2022 reached the final stages, the Covid measures were lifted, bringing in a quick energy into the economy, which lasted only for some months. In few months the new bounce subsided as consumption levels reflected this, due to the low levels of confidence exhibited by households and businesses. After the pandemic measures were lifted, the officials had set an objective of around five percent growth target for the year 2023. The target rate for growth for this year is to be released in March by the officials.

The exports of the country have been known as the main growth engine, which has plummeted last year for the first time since the year 2016, as per the figures released by the Customs Agency on Friday. The stubborn real estate crisis, record unemployment of the youth in the country, and slowdown in the global scene are also chipping at the engines of China’s growth. In China, according to official records, among five, more than one person is said to be unemployed in the age group of 16 to 24, in the month of May. The monthly youth unemployment figures have not been published for some time now.

The tensions in the geopolitical arena with the United States, the move by some countries in the western sphere to bring down their dependence on China and to diversify their supply routes have all had an adverse effect on China.