According to the government, the Chinese economy has grown strongly.
(Photo: dpa)
Beijing The Chinese economy grew noticeably in the first quarter after the end of the strict corona policy. From January to March, the gross domestic product increased by 4.5 percent compared to the same period last year, as the statistics office in Beijing announced on Tuesday. Economists surveyed by the Reuters news agency had expected an increase of 4 percent. The second largest economy in the world after the USA only managed an increase of 2.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Quarter on quarter, GDP grew 2.2 percent in January and March, in line with analysts’ expectations and ahead of the revised 0.6 percent increase in the previous quarter.
“By and large, China’s first-quarter numbers are decent and in line with its growth target of around 5 percent this year,” said Matt Simpson, senior market analyst at City Index. “This lifts the mood in Asia a little. The somewhat lackluster reaction suggests that there are some lingering concerns that the Q1 data is the first boost thanks to the reopening and that momentum could fade in Q2 or Q3.”
Separate economic data for March, also released on Tuesday, showed retail sales growth accelerating to 10.6 percent, a two-year high. Factory production also grew by 3.9 percent, but was just below expectations.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) believes that the People’s Republic will grow by 5.3 percent this year due to the recovery from the corona pandemic, after an increase of only three percent in 2022. In 2024 there should be a similarly strong increase of 4.9 percent.
China is by far Germany’s most important trading partner. German industry wants to continue expanding trade with the People’s Republic despite warnings from politicians about growing dependency.
“Diversification does not mean decoupling us from China, but reducing and ideally overcoming one-sided dependencies,” said the President of the Federation of German Industries (BDI), Siegfried Russwurm, at the Hanover Fair. “China is and will remain a key market for German companies.” There is a fairly broad consensus that the German economy needs China. The dependency on critical materials and components is a concern. “It’s not something that can be turned around in a year.”
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