China has ample policy space to boost economic growth and handle challenges, and the economy is set to achieve its 2023 growth target, said Pan Jiancheng, a Chinese macroeconomist.
Upbeat about China's economic development in the fourth quarter, Pan expected the economic recovery to keep gathering momentum, saying the economy is set to meet its growth target of around 5 percent for this year.
The Chinese government has unveiled a series of pro-growth measures since August, and they are starting to pay off, with improving indicators, ranging from the producer price index and industrial profits to the manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI), confirming sustained economic recovery, Pan said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.
The Chinese economy grew 5.2 percent year on year in the first three quarters of 2023, according to
data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
This 5.2-percent growth rate amounts to an annual GDP expansion of 6.3 trillion yuan (about 877.5 billion U.S. dollars), and if calculated at constant prices, it is equivalent to an annual GDP output increase of around 10 percent 10 years ago, said Pan, who used to work at NBS.
Pan said as an economy's size continues to expand, a downshifting from high growth rates to medium or relatively low growth rates is normal. Commenting on a moderation in China's average growth rates over the past few years, he said "it is moderate growth as long as China's economic aggregate maintains steady expansion."
