China's economy hits 5% growth target but rate among slowest in decades

The Chinese economy experienced a 5% growth in 2024, marking the slowest rate since 1990 outside the Covid pandemic, alongside external pressures and internal challenges.

Lynn Song, an economist at ING, pointed out that increasing consumer confidence is crucial: 'The key question is if we can see consumer confidence bottom out and begin a meaningful recovery.'

Despite Beijing's efforts to stimulate domestic consumption through tax incentives and interest rate cuts, retail sales only increased by 3.5%, highlighting persistent consumer pessimism.

Concerns regarding the accuracy of China's economic data have been raised, emphasizing the political influences on reported statistics, which could undermine confidence in the numbers.

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