China’s growth will slow to 3.2% this year as the economy reels from the impact of a property market crisis and strict zero-COVID policies, economists and analysts say, ahead of a key Communist Party leadership meeting this month, reports Nikkei Asia. The world’s second-largest economy is set to expand between 2.2% and 4.1% in 2022, with the average forecast coming in at 3.2% among 31 respondents to a written survey conducted jointly by Nikkei and Nikkei Quick News in September.
The fresh results mark a steep drop from the average 4.1% growth prediction in the June survey and 5% in the March poll, and are well short of the government’s official target “around 5.5%” unveiled earlier this year.
But respondents had an average forecast of a 3.2% on-year expansion for the three months ended September, well above the 0.4% growth that China’s economy eked out in the second quarter as citywide virus lockdowns in many places took a toll.