China’s economy rebounds more than expected after Covid reopening

GDP expands 4.5% year on year in first quarter as Xi Jinping’s government seeks to restore business confidence.

China’s gross domestic product expanded 4.5 per cent year on year in the first quarter, as strong growth in exports and infrastructure investment as well as a rebound in retail consumption and property prices drove a recovery in the world’s second-largest economy. The official figure, which exceeded analyst expectations of a 4 per cent rise, followed efforts by Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s government to restore business confidence damaged by pandemic controls last year and abrupt policy changes…

…Keyu Jin, a professor at the London School of Economics and author of The New China Playbook, said the biggest obstacle was the gap in private sector demand, both in consumption and investment.

“It will take time for confidence to come back to the Chinese economy,” she said.

Commentary by Keyu Jin for The Financial Times