China’s economy grew by approximately 5.2 percent last year, according to Premier Li Qiang. The economy of the country with around 1.4 billion inhabitants will have recovered in 2023, China’s number two said on Tuesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The rate is higher than the estimated five percent target set at the beginning of last year. Li made the statements just a day before the country was set to officially release its economic performance data.
China did not need “massive stimulus” to drive its economy and did not accept short-term growth at long-term risks, Li said. He compared China to a “healthy person who has a strong immune system” as the second-largest economy, according to him, over Decades of growth have laid important foundations. “The Chinese economy can handle ups and downs in its performance,” emphasized Li. The trend of long-term growth will therefore not change.
Li attracted foreign investment and announced that China wanted to open up further. Beijing also wants to improve the environment for foreign companies. They repeatedly complain about opaque legal regulations such as cross-border data transfer or agreements to the advantage of Chinese companies in public tenders. On these issues, China is working on “formulating relevant provisions,” Li said.
China’s economy struggled last year with weak domestic consumption and a severe real estate crisis. After the strict Corona rules ended, the economy initially grew significantly, but then quickly lost momentum again. Foreign companies also increasingly withdrew their profits from China, which is seen as a possible sign that companies do not want to invest in the country again.