Economists have lowered their outlook for China's gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the remainder of this year and 2024, according to a new poll by the Reuters News Agency.
The poll found that economists now expect that China’s economic growth will continue to slow this year and into next as a crisis in the country’s property market deepens and consumer spending remains sluggish.
Consequently, 76 economists and analysts who were surveyed forecast that China’s economy will grow 5% this year, lower than a previous consensus forecast of 5.5% growth.
In 2024, China’s economy is forecast to register growth of 4.5%, which is also lower than previous expectations.
Some economists who responded to the poll warned that the Chinese government's growth target of 5% this year could be missed and said that recent government stimulus measures are insufficient to revive the world’s second biggest economy.
China is struggling with a big debt load due to decades of infrastructure investment and a steep downturn in property prices. The property sector accounts for a quarter of China's economy.
Other issues impacting China’s economy include youth unemployment, weak consumption demand, and a reluctance by private firms to invest in the nation of 1.4 billion people.
Economists say they now expect China’s economic growth to slow to 4.5% next year and 4.3% in 2025.
Most economists said that risks to their 2023 and 2024 GDP growth forecasts were skewed to the downside.
