China's GDP Growth Picks Up Pace Again

China’s economy appears to have shaken off the effects of the pandemic, posting growth of 4.5% in Q1 2023 and beating economists' expectations. Speaking on the figures, China lead economist for Oxford Economics Louise Loo said: “The combination of a steady uptick in consumer confidence as well as the still-incomplete release of pent-up demand suggest to us that the consumer-led recovery still has room to run”.

After an initial spike in growth in Q1 and Q2 of 2021 - calculated against the pandemic quarters of 2020 and sky-high for that reason - Q3 of 2021 brought things back down to earth: Using Q3 of 2020 as a reference, when the pandemic was effectively over in China, GDP growth had begun to normalize.

Prior to the Covid crisis, the Chinese economy had stabilized at an annual GDP growth of around 6 percent following a gradual slowdown from more than 10 percent growth in the first decade of the 21st century. The latest figures are still considerably under this level but are the latest indicator that this rate could be achieved once more.