Many provinces in China including the financial hub of Shanghai have set modest 2024 economic growth targets after missing their previous goals, in a sign that a nationwide recovery to pre-pandemic levels would yet again prove elusive this year, reports Reuters. Last year, China’s gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 5.2%, meeting the government’s target of around 5% growth. But on a more local level, at least 15 out of 31 provincial economies missed their 2023 targets.
Heilongjiang in China’s northeast, though enjoying booming trade with Russia, reported only 2.6% growth, undershooting its goal of around 6%. Jiangxi posted 4.1% growth versus its target of around 7%. Henan missed its target by 1.9 percentage points. Even Shanghai, recovering from 2022’s stringent COVID lockdowns, missed its growth target in 2023 again.
Policy insiders expect China will set a similar growth target of around 5% for 2024, with a prolonged property slump, weak private sector and soft domestic consumption expected to remain a drag on the world’s second-largest economy. China’s GDP grew at least 6% annually in the decade before COVID-19.