Several of China’s province-level regions disclosed their economic growth targets as local officials convene once-a-year meetings to discuss plans for the year, offering a first glimpse of the country’s prospects for 2023.
Shanghai said Wednesday that it would aim for gross domestic product expansion above 5.5% in 2023, as the city seeks to mount a quick rebound after a two-month lockdown last year that had battered its economy.
Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng pledged to further consolidate the city’s role as a major manufacturing and financial hub and vowed to make Shanghai a more attractive destination for international businesses.
Northern Chinese port city Tianjin looks to grow its economy around 4% this year, its mayor said Wednesday. Once one of China’s fastest-growing region, Tianjin has posted sluggish growth in recent years, which analysts attribute to the importance of heavy industry to Tianjin’s economy and inadequate efforts to shift away from the industrial sector, along with rampant corruption and wasteful investments.
In Tianjin’s neighboring Hebei, the province’s governor is targeting 6% expansion, according to a report to local officials.
The central Jiangxi province is aiming for an ambitious 7% growth rate, and estimated its economy grew 5% last year, according to a government report. Officials in southwestern Sichuan province and coastal Fujian province expect 6% economic expansion this year for their respective economies, and pledged to strive for better results.
For most of 2022, China’s economy had grappled with stringent government efforts to stamp out Covid outbreaks, along with a protracted property slump and dwindling global demand for Chinese goods. In December, Beijing abruptly reversed its zero-Covid strategy and the country’s top leaders said in an agenda-setting policy meeting that they would refocus on kickstarting economic growth in 2023.
He Lifeng, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top economic-planning body, is drafting a growth plan of more than 5% for 2023, The Wall Street Journal previously reported.
Beijing’s Covid policy reversal has also prompted economists to revise up their estimates for China’s GDP growth this year.
Morgan Stanley raised its forecast 0.3 percentage point to 5.7% this week in a note to clients, saying that the near-term pain of a fast reopening will likely be compensated by an earlier and stronger recovery.
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Source: news.google.com
