January 18, 2021

Andrew Campbell 

Asian and Pacific Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published IMF staff country report, entitled “People’s Republic of China: 2020 Article IV Consultation”, about the latest development of China’s economy on January 8.

IMF indicates that China’s economy has been recovering quickly from the economic and health crisis amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Chinese government has contributed a series of strong containment efforts in macroeconomic and financial policy support and helped its economy rebound.

However, the IMF considered China’s economic growth unbalanced as the recovery has relied heavily on government supports. Although some important reforms have progressed, the gains were uneven and threatened under rising financial vulnerabilities. Private consumption still remained lagging in China.

According to official statistics released from the Chinese government on January 17, the world's second-largest economy expanded 2.3% in 2020 which has been better than the IMF's 1.9% growth predicted previously. At a press conference in Beijing earlier, Ning Jizhe, a spokesman for China's National Bureau of Statistics, also praised that China's economic performance was better than expected.

Photo:Webshot.