China’s Recovery So Far: Trying Hard, Can Do Better
Economic rebounds in the US often get picked apart for their flaws. Now, it’s China’s turn.
Shoppers browse wine at a night market in the Xintiandi shopping area in Shanghai.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/BloombergChina’s post-lockdown rebound is months old and already getting upbraided for its shortcomings. As solid as the economic bounce appears, the fragile world outlook requires more from a country whose stellar run was a feature of global finance in the decades before Covid-19. This recovery will have to work harder — if it can.
The pickup in growth reported Tuesday was respectable when dazzling was needed. Gross domestic product rose 4.5% in the first quarter from a year earlier. That exceeded the forecasts of most economists and was impressive compared to the way the economy crawled along for much of 2022; the expansion was 2.9% in October to December, when China finally joined the rest of the world and abruptly ended harsh Covid restrictions. The rest of the recent data was mixed: industrial output disappointed, as did public spending, while property investment again sagged. Consumers did spend freely, with retail sales climbing more than 10%.