Chinese Premier Li Qiang Touts Beijing's Economic Growth Last Year

Chinese Premier Li Qiang touted Beijing's economic growth last year, claiming that they observed it to have increased by roughly 5.2% last year.

The official's remarks at the World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland, provided an early glimpse of crucial economic data prior to its official release. Li, the second-highest official in China following President Xi Jinping, said that Beijing had surpassed its target last year of economic growth of about 5%.

China's Economic Growth

(Photo : Jade Gao - Pool/Getty Images)
Chinese Premier Li Qiang spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and touted Beijing's economic growth at around 5.2% last year.

The premier also insisted that the Asian country had successfully expanded its economy without using risky or short-term measures, including large spending or credit programs. Li said that in the court of economic development, China has avoided major stimulus and has avoided seeking short-term growth at the price of accumulating long-term risks.

The Chinese official's comments were consistent with publicly available estimates of economic growth that Beijing had last year. The Asian nation will also announce the official number in Beijing on Wednesday, as per the New York Times.

A Chinese news organization, Caixin, said that a survey of economists last week concluded that the country's economy had probably grown roughly 5.3%. Ever since the Chinese government delayed the release of economic growth information by a week in October 2022, the timing of official economic reports has become a sensitive subject.

The additional time allowed the Communist Party to finish an important national congress before lackluster statistics were made available to the public. A Yale economist and former chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia, Stephen Roach, said that Lil's mention of an estimate of China's economic growth was far less digression from any global norms than the 2022 incident.

He added that there are enough questions regarding the credibility of China's numbers that he does not believe there is any serious breach of confidence in such statistics. Li also mentioned that Beijing has been wary of rapidly ramping up economic stimulus to reverse a broad showdown.

A Series of Economic Problems

While the economic growth of 5.2% is significantly higher than China's previous record of 3% the prior year, it still marks one of the worst performances in the last three decades. China has been facing a series of economic issues, including a real estate crisis, record youth unemployment, deflation, and a rapidly aging population, according to CNN.

The array of problems has sent investors rushing to sever ties with China as the Asian nation's stock markets were the biggest losers in 2023. The country's blue-chip CSI 300 index fell more than 11% as Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 14%.

On the other hand, the MSCI World Index closed the year 22% higher, which was considered its biggest annual jump since 2019. Li noted that despite the twists and turns in China's economic operation, he said that its overall long-term positive trend will not change.

The Chinese premier added that in order to keep competition healthy and bring out the greatest vitality, there needs to be an enhancement in cooperation in innovation. Li said that scientific and technological fruits should benefit humanity as a whole and not be used to restrict or contain the development of other nations, said CNBC.