China's growth prospects weaken as economists cut 2023 forecasts

Economists are turning more bearish about China’s economy, downgrading their growth forecasts further for 2022 and seeing lingering risks into next year as turmoil in the property market and Covid outbreaks persist. 

The economy is now projected to grow just 3.5% this year, down from a previous forecast of 3.9%, according to Bloomberg’s latest quarterly survey of economists. Growth projections for the first three quarters of next year were also lowered -- by 0.1-0.4 percentage points -- although the median for the whole of 2023 remained unchanged at 5.2%. 

Outlook Further Cut

The downgrades suggest economists aren’t convinced Beijing’s recent