China posts sluggish GDP growth in 2023, population declines again
Al Jazeera
Official data shows GDP was 5.2 percent in 2023, hitting a government target, but recovery looks uneven.
China’s economy grew by 5.2 percent in 2023, hitting the government’s official target, but concerns about growth momentum remain amid a protracted property crisis, sluggish consumer and business confidence, and weak global growth.
China’s National Bureau of Statistics said gross domestic product (GDP) in the world’s second-biggest economy also rose by 5.2 percent in the final three months of 2023, compared with the same period last year.
Kang Yi, the bureau’s head, said the expansion had been “hard won” and cautioned that the economy faced a complex external environment and insufficient demand moving into 2024.
In 2022, China’s economy grew by just 3 percent as a result of prolonged COVID-19 regulations linked to its zero-COVID policy.
After lifting the measures at the end of 2022, Beijing set itself a growth target of “around five percent” for last year.
