Policy and resilience raise confidence in stable economic growth this year

The International Monetary Fund has raised its forecast for China's economic growth for 2024 to 5.0 percent from the previous 4.6 percent. It said this after concluding the 2024 China Article IV Consultation, its annual assessment of the Chinese economy, on Tuesday. The IMF also raised its forecast for China's economic growth to 4.5 percent for next year, up 0.4 percentage points compared with its April projection.

Actually, after China released its strong first-quarter economic data, many international institutions have raised their expectations for China's economy. The IMF said that its upward revisions of China's economic growth forecast are driven by China's strong GDP growth in the first quarter and recent policy initiatives. The IMF not only fully affirms China's economic performance, but also pins high hopes on its policies and economic trend in the next stage.

China's GDP registered growth of 5.3 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, and, given that, this was achieved despite last year's high base, it is indeed confidence-boosting. It was possible mainly because China's accelerated net export growth has considerably offset the slowdown in domestic demand.