Economy ends year on positive note despite complex, challenging environment: Wen Bin
China’s economy ends 2023 on a positive note, with a year-on-year GDP growth of 5.2 percent, surpassing the set target.
In December, with the e effective implementation of various macroeconomic policies, the national economy maintained the stable recovery momentum, with most indicators rebounding or stabilizing, excluding the real estate sector.
Looking back to the quarterly performance, the first quarter growth surpassed expectations, marking a strong start. The second quarter witnessed a rebound in year-onyear growth, although there was a slight slowdown on a quarterly basis. In the second half of the year, policies were implemented with a concentrated effort to accelerate economic recovery.
The recovery for the whole year is characterized by varied levels of progress sometimes featuring twists and turns. It is not easy to maintain recovery momentum and achieve annual goals in the face of intensified external pressures and internal difficulties.
From an external perspective, the momentum of global economic recovery gradually slowed down in the fourth quarter. Developed countries such as the US, Europe, and the UK have essentially halted interest rate hikes but maintained relatively high interest rate levels. China still facesfac a complex and challengingc external environment. In terms of US dollars, China’s exports in the fourth quarter dropp dropped by 1.3 percent year-on-year, indicating that external demand continues to be a drag on the growth.
From an internal perspective, the foundation of domestic demand in China has been further strengthened. Since the fourth quarter, China has continued to implement a comprehensive package of macroeconomic counter-cyclical policies, with increased fiscal support.
Overall, household consumption is experiencing a weak recovery, but the foundation still needs to be consolidated. From January to December, fixed asset investment increased by 3.0 percent year-on-year, and retail sales of consumer goods increased by 7.2 percent year-on-year. Investment and consumption are important pillars supporting economic stabilization.
After the Central Economic Work Conference, government ministries and commissions have successively held their annual work conferences to implement the measures mapped out in the economic work conference and structure their work for the year
It is expected that the official target for economic growth in 2024 will remain around 5 percent, and policy efforts will be increased accordingly to effectively address deflation expectations and push the actual growth rate closer to the potential growth level.