China GDP: ‘double-dip’ saw US economic gap widen last year after second-lowest growth since 1976

Name: China records second-lowest economic growth figure in almost 50 years after Covid-ravaged 2022
Uploaded: 2023-01-17T14:30:20.000Z
Duration: 2 min 24 s
Description: China records second-lowest economic growth figure in almost 50 years after Covid-ravaged 2022

China’s economy grew by 2.9 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year, meaning gross domestic product for 2022 grew by 3 per cent to 121 trillion yuan (US$18 trillion)

Goldman Sachs said in December that China could overtake the US as the world’s largest economy by around 2035, although the gap likely widened last year

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China records second-lowest economic growth figure in almost 50 years after Covid-ravaged 2022

Frank Tangin Beijing

Published: 10:30pm, 17 Jan 2023Updated: 9:27am, 18 Jan 2023

Beijing’s hardline zero-Covid strategy likely led to the economic gap with the United States widening last year after China’s economy grew at its second slowest pace in 46 years, according to analysts.

The world’s second-largest economy grew by 2.9 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year, data released on Tuesday showed, as China’s gross domestic product (GDP) for 2022 grew by 3 per cent to 121 trillion yuan (US$18 trillion).

China’s full-year growth figure was only slightly better than the 2.2 per cent growth seen in 2020, which was the lowest since 1976, and fell short of the official “around 5.5 per cent” target.

But the annual figure was still better than expected after a coronavirus-ravaged 2022, and comes after Beijing abruptly ended its zero-Covid strategy last month, raising hopes that China can resume its bid to end the US’ lengthy run as the world’s largest economy, which economists at Goldman Sachs said in December could occur by around 2035.

The double-dip last year led to a bigger economic gap with the US, rather than narrowing

Qiu Xiaohu

“The double-dip last year led to a bigger economic gap with the US, rather than narrowing,” said Qiu Xiaohua, former head of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), after China’s economy grew by 6 per cent in 2019 and recovered from the 2020 decline by expanding by 8.4 per cent in 2021.