Update: China’s 2023 GDP Growth Recovers to 5.2%, Beating Target

China’s economy expanded by 5.2% in 2023, recovering from one of the weakest GDP growth rates in more than four decades the previous year when the Covid-19 pandemic curbed business activity and hurt consumer spending.

The figure, released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Wednesday, exceeded the government’s target of “around 5%” and confirmed the estimate given by Premier Li Qiang the previous day in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The growth rate was also broadly in line with the average 5.3% pace estimated by economists in a Caixin survey.