China's GDP falls to three per cent in 2022, second lowest in 50 years

Hit hard by the zeroCovid policy and slump in the real estate market Chinas economy shrank to three per cent in 2022 registering its second lowest growth rate in 50 years in the worlds secondlargest economy according to official data released here on TuesdayThe annual GDP of China totalled 12102 trillion yuan USD 1794 trillion in 2022 falling below the 55 per cent official target the National Bureau of Statistics NBS saidThe slow pace was blamed mainly on the strictly implemented zeroCovid policy leading to periodic lockdowns and the ruling Communist Partys crackdown on big industrial firms besides the lingering real estate crisis This is the slowest growth of the Chinese economy since the 23 per cent registered in GDP in 1974Significantly this year Chinas GDP in terms of dollars declined from USD 18 trillion in 2021 to USD 1794 trillion last year mainly due to a sharp rise of the dollar against RMB the Chinese currency in 2022 In RMB terms the Chinese economy last year posted 12102 trillion yuan against the 2021 figure of 11437 trillion yuanThe GDP growth in the fourth quarter was 29 per cent yearonyear compared with 39 per cent in the third quarter as it was hit hard by recurring covid lockdowns of various urban centres including the top industrial and business hubs like Shanghai Industrial output an important economic indicator expanded by 36 per cent yearonyear in 2022 and 13 per cent in December Chinas fixedasset investment went up 51 per cent in 2022The NBS said despite the overall stable economic performance the foundation for economic recovery remains unstable The country will comprehensively deepen reform and openingup and focus on strengthening market confidence to promote improvements of the economy to revive the economy it saidLast years annual GDP growth of 3 per cent marked a slowdown from 84 per cent in 2021 a sharp decline blamed on a host of factors mainly China shutting itself from the outside world due to zero Covid policy China had set a modest economic growth target of around 55 per cent for last year but it remained unattainable due to the impact of the coronavirusThe urban surveyed jobless rate meanwhile stood at 55 per cent in December down from 57 per cent in November amid reports that one among five persons in China was unemployed But according to NBS data Chinas job market remained generally stable in 2022Also read Pakistan is realising neither its citizens nor infrastructure benefiting from Chinas BRI projects ReportA total of 1206 million new urban jobs were created last year exceeding the annual target of 11 million the data showed The national economy continued to develop despite downward pressure the economic output reached a new level the employment and prices were generally stable peoples lives were continuously improved new achievements were secured in highquality development and the overall economic and social development was stable and healthy Kang Yi head of the NBS told the media after releasing the dataHowever the foundation of domestic economic recovery is not solid as the international situation is still complicated and severe while the domestic triple pressure of demand contraction supply shock and weakening expectations is still looming Kang said China will make economic stability its top priority and pursue progress while ensuring stability this year he saidThe disquieting slowdown of the economy came as Chinese President Xi Jinping began his unprecedented third term towards the end of last year after being reelected by the ruling Communist Party Chinas onceinafiveyear CongressBesides the zeroCovid policy which his government completely lifted this month opening China to the outside world for the first time in three years a host of other reasons including the slump in the real estate market and the crackdown on top business houses like Alibaba were blamed for the decline of the Chinese economyThe Managing director of the International Monetary Fund Kristalina Georgieva this month asked China to continue reopening its economy What is most important is for China to stay the course not to back off from that reopening Georgieva saidIf they stay the course by midyear or there around China will turn into a positive contributor to average global growth she said Yating Xu principal economist at SampP Global Market Intelligence told the BBC that she has seen signs of a gradual recovery in Chinese consumer activity since its reopeningThe governments increasing progrowth stance and the economic recovery entering 2023 reduces the likelihood of a pandemicpolicy reversal she said However the full reopening of mainland Chinas borders is likely to be delayed until international restrictions against China originated travel are dropped she saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole 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