China's economic output is expected to exceed US$17 trillion in 2022.
Weaker demand in the country was related to Covid.
Reuters - China's economic output is expected to exceed the equivalent of $17,2 trillion this year, state media said, citing a senior Chinese Communist Party official on Saturday.
Disruptions induced by Covid, weaker demand at home and abroad, and a housing slowdown have brought headwinds to the world's second-largest economy.
"There is a gap between economic growth and the expected target set at the beginning of the year, but many other indicators have been better achieved," said Han Wenxiu, deputy head of the party's financial and economic affairs office, quoted by state broadcaster CCTV.
Han's expectation that total economic output will exceed $17 trillion in 2022 equates to a 4,9% expansion in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) compared to the previous year, according to a Reuters calculation based on official data.
China's economy grew by only 3% in the first three quarters of the year. Many economists expect it to remain around that rate for the entire year, well below the official target of around 5,5%.
"Judging by the deteriorating Covid situation and the high-frequency data accumulated in the month, December may suffer further weakening," Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note on Friday.
"Given the short-term headwinds, we have revised our fourth-quarter GDP forecast downward to -4% on a quarterly basis... (which) reduces our full-year projection to 2,6%."