China’s economic growth is expected to slow to 6.7 per cent in 2016, the World Bank said in a report on Monday.
The world’s second largest economy is projected to slow further to 6.5 per cent in 2017, according to the bank’s twice-yearly East Asia and Pacific Economic Update.
After decades of development at a breakneck pace, China’s Gross Domestic Product grew by 6.9 per cent in 2015, the slowest growth in more than a quarter of a century.
Deceleration was especially pronounced in the real estate and manufacturing sectors while excess capacity has dragged down a wide range of industries, the report noted.
It recommended strengthening market discipline in the financial sector and opening up sectors dominated by state-owned enterprises to more competition.
The report also found that East Asia and the Pacific accounted for almost two fifths of global growth in 2015 more than twice the combined contribution of all other developing regions.
However, the region faces many challenges, including broad slowdown across emerging markets, weak global trade, low commodity prices and increasingly volatile global financial markets, the bank noted.
The report’s projection for China’s growth is on par with the country’s official growth target of 6.5 to 7 per cent for this year.
