According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), China’s gross domestic product (GDP) rose 3% in 2022, better than analysts’ expectations of a 2.8% growth. The Chinese economy slowed significantly in 2022, from 8.4% in 2021. In the fourth quarter of 2022, China’s GDP grew 2.9% year-on-year, which was also better than analysts’ expectations of 1.8%.
In 2022, the Chinese authorities imposed a two-month lockdown on Shanghai in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19 under the zero COVID policy, which affected travel and economic activity across the country. However, in December of 2022, the Chinese authorities abruptly decided to abolish the zero-Covid policy, leading to a dramatic increase in the number of people infected with COVID-19. Despite this, the abolishment of the policy allowed people to plan for travel during the Chinese New Year.
Analysts predict that Chinese consumer confidence may take another few months to recover, but China’s leaders are set to announce their 2023 GDP growth target in March, during the annual meeting of the National Assembly of China, which will be the first meeting since President Xi Jinping was elected to a third term at the Communist Party of China’s congress in Oct. 2022.