China reported a better-than-expected economic growth in 2022 at 3%, topping the forecast of 2.8% growth by Reuters poll and 2.7% growth by the World Bank. Still, the figure was lower than the 5.5% growth that the Chinese government projected in early 2022 due to the Covid-19 outbreak and strict measures to control the spread that hampered its output.
China recorded an 8.4% growth in 2021 and 2.2% growth in 2020, being the first to come out of Covid slump.
Meanwhile, the fourth-quarter GDP rose by 2.9%, which was also higher than Reuters’ poll of 1.8% growth.
Retail sales for the world’s second-largest economy fell by 0.2% in 2022. Still, retail sales in December dropped by 1.8% from the same period of last year, but less than the expected 8.6% plunge forecast by a Reuters’ poll.
China’s exports and imports for December shrank less than the market’s expectations, reflecting that the overall outlook for trade in the world’s second largest country was still growing in 2022.
In December, exports in U.S.-dollar terms fell by 9.9% year-on-year (YoY), which was slightly better than a forecast of a 10% decrease by Reuters poll. Meanwhile, imports shrank by 7.5% YoY, which was also lower than Reuter poll’s forecast for 9.8%.
China’s strong exports have been buoying its economy in recent years, but economists expected trade to slow down over shrinking demand from the U.S. and Europe. The effect was shown in October 2022 when China’s exports started to fall, which was the first time since May 2020.
Still, China’s exports record a 7.7% growth in 2022, while imports notched a 1.1% growth.
