EXPERT COMMENT
Growth looks set to weaken this year, but authorities remain unable to deliver a large monetary stimulus and unwilling to deliver a large fiscal one.
Last week's news that China's GDP grew 5.2 per cent in 2023 gave some comfort to policymakers in Beijing. The data allowed them to claim success over their target to grow the economy by around 5 per cent for the whole year.
But the mood among Chinese households and corporates is much bleaker than the data suggest; and without the post-lockdown economic bounce that supported China's growth rate in 2023, growth looks set to weaken this year, limiting the support that China might provide for the rest of the world economy.
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