China’s new GDP data may revive confidence in its economy | World News

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Ever since China abandoned zero outbreaks late last year, its economic recovery has been eagerly anticipated and closely watched by investors.Skeptics began to wonder whether demoralized consumers Will open their wallets if believed broken real estate market Can recover, if the global economic downturn will dent China’s upward momentum.

Official data released on April 18 should help allay some skepticism. Compared with the same period in 2022, China’s GDP grew by 4.5% in the first three months of this year. By Chinese standards, that doesn’t sound particularly impressive.But to get there, the economy first has to climb out of the devastating blockade Last spring in Shanghai and elsewhere (see chart). Much of China’s growth over the past 12 months has been concentrated in the last three months, during which it expanded at an annualized rate of about 9%.

More detailed monthly data shed light on the shape of the recovery. Retail sales rose double-digits in March from a year earlier, before adjusting for inflation. The restaurant industry, hit hard by pandemic-era restrictions, grew more than 26%. Exports have performed better than expected, at least for now. Real estate sales were strong in China’s big cities but not elsewhere, suggesting that the downturn in the country’s national property market is becoming a more localized problem. China still has deep economic problems to overcome, including rising youth unemployment and rising provincial debt. But after these encouraging figures, doubts about recovery this year should happily enter recession.

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