China GDP: economic growth tipped to slow amid coronavirus, property crackdown and debt reduction campaign

Name: New Evergrande protests amid reports troubled Chinese property giant ordered to raze development
Uploaded: 2022-01-14T18:00:19.000Z
Duration: 1 min 29 s
Description: New Evergrande protests amid reports troubled Chinese property giant ordered to raze development

Regulatory tightening in the property sector, deleveraging efforts and recurrent Covid-19 outbreaks are among the factors dragging on growth

Analysts in a Bloomberg survey are predicting a 3.6 per cent expansion in the fourth quarter, down from 4.9 per cent in the previous quarter

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Beijing’s tough policy for reducing debt in the property sector is dragging on economic growth, analysts say. Photo: Bloomberg

Amanda Lee

Published: 2:00am, 15 Jan 2022Updated: 2:37am, 15 Jan 2022

China’s economic growth is likely to slow further in the last quarter of 2021 amid fallout from the Evergrande crisis and a resurgence of Covid-19 outbreaks, according to analysts.

The world’s second largest economy is expected to report its gross domestic product (GDP) figures for last year on Monday, with analysts in a Bloomberg survey predicting a 3.6 per cent expansion in the fourth quarter, down from 4.9 per cent in the previous quarter.

GDP growth for 2021 is likely to be 8 per cent, according to the Bloomberg poll. The Chinese government set a modest target of “above 6 per cent” growth for this year.

China revised down its 2020 growth rate to 2.2 per cent year on year, down from 2.3 per cent.

“In the near term, the property market slowdown remains the biggest threat to macroeconomic and financial stability in China,” said US investment bank JP Morgan in a research note this week.

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New Evergrande protests amid reports troubled Chinese property giant ordered to raze development

Real estate investment directly contributes 14-15 per cent of GDP, including construction and residential property development, and about 25 per cent of GDP if taking into account upstream and downstream sectors, JP Morgan estimated.