Strong Start, Ongoing Challenges: China’s Economy Under President Xi Jinping

China’s economy is showing strong signs of recovery under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, despite facing challenges such as a property-sector crisis and weak consumer demand. In the first quarter, the economy grew by 5.3 percent, surpassing expectations.

According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), industrial production and agriculture grew by 6.1 percent and 3.8 percent, respectively, while services saw a 5 percent growth. The agency stated that the positive performance was due to effective policies implemented under the guidance of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

However, recent data on exports and imports showed a decline in March, highlighting ongoing challenges faced by China’s economy. Structural issues such as a highly indebted real estate sector and a shrinking population have also been hindering sustained recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fitch Ratings recently downgraded China’s sovereign credit outlook to negative due to increasing risks to its public finance outlook. Despite setting a growth target of 5 percent for 2024, Chinese officials have implemented fiscal and monetary policy measures, including substantial spending on construction and infrastructure projects to stimulate economic growth.

In summary, despite facing various challenges such as property-sector crisis, weak consumer demand and increasing government debt, China’s economy has had a strong start to the year under President Xi Jinping’s leadership with growth rate of 5.3% in first quarter surpassing expectations. However structural issues like highly indebted real estate sector and shrinking population need to be addressed for sustained recovery from COVID-19 pandemic.

The positive performance was attributed to effective policies implemented under the guidance of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

Recent data on exports and imports showed a decline in March which highlights ongoing challenges faced by China’s economy.

Fitch Ratings recently downgraded China’s sovereign credit outlook to negative due to increasing risks to its public finance outlook.

Despite setting a growth target of 5 percent for 2024, Chinese officials have implemented fiscal and monetary policy measures including substantial spending on construction and infrastructure projects