The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday maintained its growth forecast for China at 5.2 percent for this year, saying the country's reopening raised hopes for "positive spillovers" to the rest of the world, while lowering its outlook for the global economy.
"As COVID-19 waves subsided in January of this year, mobility normalised, and high-frequency economic indicators – such as retail sales and travel bookings – started picking up," the IMF wrote in its World Economic Outlook report.
"The reopening and growth of (China's) economy will likely generate positive spillovers, with even greater spillovers for countries with stronger trade links and reliance on Chinese tourism," it added.
Last year China's economy grew by only three percent.
China is expected to account for about a third of global growth this year, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said last month in Beijing.
The IMF predicted the global economy will grow by 2.8 percent this year and three percent in 2024, a decline of 0.1 percentage point from its previous forecasts in January.
The American economy is expected to grow by 1.6 percent in 2023, up 0.2 percentage point on the IMF's previous forecast. US growth is then predicted to slow to 1.1 percent next year, up 0.1 percentage point from January.
