Trump The Dragon Slayer? China’s Economic Growth Expected To Lower To 6.3 Per Cent In 2019

China’s economic growth is expected to lower at 6.6 per cent this year and slide further to 6.3 per cent in 2019, South China Morning Post has reported.

The slowdown as per a study by Beijing’s Renmin University is attributed to headwinds faced by the country due to challenges related to trade and structural reform programme it has embarked upon.

The report also warns that China would continue to face difficulties even if resolves trade tensions with the US. The nation is facing a deteriorating global trade environment, falling export growth and currency depreciation.

The report underscores the inadequacy of short-term measures to alleviate downward economic pressures now building in China. While recent policies should prevent a deeper decline in growth next year, a new round of structural supply-side reforms was needed, the report added.

As the prospects of a protracted trade war with the US looms large, Chinese economic growth slackened to 6.5 per cent in the quarter ending September. Incidentally, this growth is the lowest China has clocked since the last quarter of 2008, which was in the backdrop of the global financial crisis.

Despite mounting structural challenges, the Chinese economy had been able to expand anywhere between 6.7 per cent and 6.9 per cent every quarter for the last three years.

The growth rate could slide even further as the full impact of US tariffs on Chinese exports is likely to play out over the next two quarters.