According to the report of the National Bureau of Statistics of the People’s Republic of China, China’s GDP increased by 4.9 percent on a year-on-year basis in the third quarter of 2022. In the third quarter, China’s economy grew faster than analysts had expected. The median forecast of the experts questioned by Refinitiv was 4.6%.
At the end of the nine months of 2023, the country’s GDP has reached 91.3 trillion yuan ($12.7 trillion), which is 5.2 percent higher than during the same period in 2022.
Despite the notable acceleration in the GDP growth, problems in the Chinese economy persist. The real estate sector, one of the key sectors for the PRC’s economy, is still in a prolonged crisis. The government’s real estate investment dropped 9.1% year-over-year during the quarter, and the total square footage of commercial real estate sold during the period decreased by 7.5%.
The economy is growing primarily due to serious government investment in infrastructure projects and social facilities, with government-controlled banks providing more and more loans to the local authorities. In the first eight months, borrowing by the local authorities has increased by 4.2% year-on-year and by 59% compared to 2019.
PRC’s trade turnover with its main trading partners, the USA and the EU, shows negative dynamics. As for the USA, the turnover decreased by 14% in the first nine months of the year, amounting to $495.9 billion. There is also a negative trend in the China-EU trade (shipments from China to the EU decreased by 21% during the first half of the year). The weak trade statistics continue to adjust the forecasts of international organizations, in particular, the IMF and the World Bank, which do not expect a significant growth of the Chinese economy by the end of the year.
Sources: kommersant.ru, bfm.ru