Chinese Premier Li Qiang told the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday that China’s economy will grow by about 5.2 per cent in 2023, slightly better than the official target set by Beijing.
Li told the meeting of global business and political leaders:
In the past year of 2023, China’s economy has generally rebounded and improved.
The Chinese government had previously said its growth rate would be around 5 per cent last year.
Li’s comments came just a day before the world’s second-largest economy announces its official growth figures for 2023.
International economists have widely forecast China’s economic growth to slow to 4.5 per cent this year. Li noted:
Even if there are twists and turns in China’s economic operation, its overall long-term positive trend will not change.
The premier became the highest-ranking Chinese leader to personally attend the Davos forum since Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2017.
China is experiencing a sharp downturn in real estate and a worrying loss of consumer confidence. Mr Li used much of his Davos speech to present China as an attractive market for global companies and as a country with good economic growth prospects. As the world’s largest exporter, he noted that China has what he said was the world’s widest range of industries.
