AFP, Beijing :
China’s economy grew at its slowest pace in almost three decades in 2018, analysts in an AFP poll said, as the government struggles to contain ballooning debt and a bruising trade war with the United States.
And in a sign of the battle Beijing faces in getting things back on track, the survey of 13 economists also forecast expansion in the last three months to be at its weakest since the global financial crisis 10 years ago.
The figures are the latest in a long-running trend that have prompted officials to vow they will not let the economy “fall off a cliff” and announce support measures including tax cuts and making it easier for banks to lend.
The full-year figure of 6.6 percent would be the worst since 1990, when the economy was hit by outrage over the Tiananmen Square crackdown a year earlier.
The October-December rate of 6.4 percent marks the slowest quarter since 2009 and indicates China faces a tough year ahead.
“Economic momentum is clearly slowing,” said Raymond Yeung, economist at ANZ bank.
Relations with top trading partner the United States deteriorated sharply last year after President Donald Trump hit roughly half of Chinese imports with new tariffs in an attempt to force trade concessions from Beijing.
The trade war with the US is on hold for now after President Xi Jinping and Donald Trump agreed a three-month ceasefire while the two sides try to find a resolution.
Meanwhile China’s top negotiator is heading to Washington for talks this month ahead of a March deadline to avoid further tariff hikes, while a report said the US is considering lifting some levies in return for reforms by Beijing.
While analysts say the standoff has dented confidence – leaving the stock markets battered and the yuan weakened – they attribute most the downturn to government policies to tackle growing debt, financial risk and pollution.
China’s economy grew at its slowest pace in almost three decades in 2018, analysts in an AFP poll said, as the government struggles to contain ballooning debt and a bruising trade war with the United States.
And in a sign of the battle Beijing faces in getting things back on track, the survey of 13 economists also forecast expansion in the last three months to be at its weakest since the global financial crisis 10 years ago.
The figures are the latest in a long-running trend that have prompted officials to vow they will not let the economy “fall off a cliff” and announce support measures including tax cuts and making it easier for banks to lend.
The full-year figure of 6.6 percent would be the worst since 1990, when the economy was hit by outrage over the Tiananmen Square crackdown a year earlier.
The October-December rate of 6.4 percent marks the slowest quarter since 2009 and indicates China faces a tough year ahead.
“Economic momentum is clearly slowing,” said Raymond Yeung, economist at ANZ bank.
Relations with top trading partner the United States deteriorated sharply last year after President Donald Trump hit roughly half of Chinese imports with new tariffs in an attempt to force trade concessions from Beijing.
The trade war with the US is on hold for now after President Xi Jinping and Donald Trump agreed a three-month ceasefire while the two sides try to find a resolution.
Meanwhile China’s top negotiator is heading to Washington for talks this month ahead of a March deadline to avoid further tariff hikes, while a report said the US is considering lifting some levies in return for reforms by Beijing.
While analysts say the standoff has dented confidence – leaving the stock markets battered and the yuan weakened – they attribute most the downturn to government policies to tackle growing debt, financial risk and pollution.
