China's Economy Will Grow 2% This Year and 7.9% in 2021

• 12.23.2020, 13:20
•  Asia,  World

China should maintain accommodative monetary policy and avoid any "significant contraction" in fiscal policy next year to keep its economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic on track, according to the World Bank, Bloomberg reports.

"A premature policy exit and excessive tightening could derail the recovery," the World Bank said in its latest economic update on China, released Wednesday. It predicts the world’s second-largest economy will grow 2% this year and 7.9% in 2021, and said the biggest risk to the outlook remains a resurgence of coronavirus.

The World Bank says next year’s acceleration will be driven by rising private-sector investment in manufacturing and stronger household spending. China’s ruling Communist party signaled at an annual economic conference last week that it will reduce some stimulus measures as the economy has returned to growth, adding that it will avoid "sharp turns" in policy.

Beijing still has room to expand government spending even after China’s fiscal deficit grew to 5.9% of gross domestic product in the first 11 months of 2020, up from 3.5% last year, the World Bank report said.