The World Bank (WB) has cut its forecast for China’s 2009 economic growth yet again – this time from 7.5 percent to 6.5 percent, according to the Xinhua news agency.
This is the second time the WB has cut its forecast of China’s GDP growth. Last November it predicted 9.2 percent.
Although China’s economy has been hard hit by the global financial crisis, it is still holding up, Xinhua reported, citing the WB in the China Quarterly Update.
The report, a quarterly assessment of the Chinese economy, found China’s banks have been largely unscathed by the global financial turmoil, and the Chinese economy still has plenty of space to implement forceful stimulus measures.
However, China’s exports have declined significantly, plummeting by 25.7 percent year-on-year in February after January’s 17.5 percent plunge, the worst performance in a decade. February imports slumped by 24.1 percent.
The country’s GDP grew by 9 percent last year, and the Chinese government has set an 8 percent growth target for 2009.