BEIJING: Economic momentum gained traction in China during the first two months of the year with better-than-expected performance of both supply and demand, setting a promising tone for a robust 2024.
While expressing strong confidence that the country will meet the annual growth target of around 5 percent, analysts projected a steadfast growth trajectory for the first quarter, with stimulus policies gradually taking effect.
Meanwhile, they cautioned that the outlook is still clouded by lingering challenges such as continued weakness in the property sector, structural constraints to growth and mounting uncertainties, and said that further policy easing and structural reforms to bolster confidence and reignite growth momentum are needed to achieve the annual growth target. “The January-February economic performance laid a solid foundation for the year’s development,” Liu Aihua, a spokeswoman for the National Bureau of Statistics, said on Monday at a news conference in Beijing.
Liu said she believes that the country has the conditions and capabilities to achieve its annual growth target this year, given its solid economic fundamentals, strengthening of factors driving recovery and effective policy measures. Figures released by the NBS showed that China’s January-February economic activity has been above expectations overall.
The country’s industrial output grew 7 percent year-on-year during the period after a 6.8 percent rise in December, and fixed-asset investment increased 4.2 percent year-on-year during the same period, compared with 3 percent annual growth for 2023. Retail sales growth slowed to 5.5 percent year-on-year during the period, compared with 7.4 percent in December, roughly in line with market expectations. Zhou Maohua, a researcher at China Everbright Bank, said the better-than-expected figures point to the stabilization of the economy, adding that the country is expected to make a good start in the first quarter.
Looking to the full year, he said the momentum of China’s economic recovery is poised to undergo further consolidation with further macroeconomic policy adjustment, improvement in domestic demand and gradual stabilization of the property sector. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
