China's economic growth is slowing as GDP data show Xi Jinping's zero-COVID policy took its toll
- Economic data released Tuesday in China show its growth slowed amid the government's zero-COVID policy.
- The National Bureau of Statistics of China said the economy expanded by 3% from a year prior.
The National Bureau of Statistics of China said the country's economy expanded by 3% in 2022, below Chinese officials' expectations of a 5.5% increase. The data showed the impact from the government's zero-COVID policy.
Gross domestic product data released early Tuesday in China showed growth was below the 8.1% increase in GDP that the country reported for 2021.
During the pandemic, China's leader Xi Jinping has overseen a highly restrictive program of lockdowns aimed at stopping the spread of COVID-19. He relaxed this policy after a wave of protests last year.
Economists are now figuring out how the rapid reopening of China's economy, the second-largest in the world after the United States, squares with a global economic slowdown.
"Beijing appears to be opting for a 'big bang' style exit from zero-COVID — one where the infection peak is passed as soon as possible — versus the staged process we had earlier envisaged," investment strategists at the Swiss bank UBS wrote in a note to clients earlier this month.
Strategists led by Mark Haefele, the chief investment officer of UBS Global Wealth Management, said pent-up savings and a return to social activities in China this year should lead to improved economic growth. Haefele said he expects GDP to recover to around 5% this year.
GDP in China rose 2.9% in the fourth quarter from a year prior, according to a press release.