IMF Photo: VCG

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday raised China’s GDP growth forecast for 2024 to 5 percent, up 0.4 percentage points from its World Economic Outlook (WEO) report released in April, demonstrating improving expectations for a solid recovery in the world’s second largest economy.

The revision was driven by strong GDP data in the first quarter and Chinese government’s recent policy measures, the IMF said in a statement sent to the Global Times on Wednesday. 

An IMF team visited China from May 16 to 28 and held policy discussion with Chinese officials, the IMF said. 

“China's economic growth is projected to remain resilient at 5 percent in 2024, and slow to 4.5 percent in 2025. These reflect upward revisions of 0.4 percentage points for both years compared to the April WEO projections, driven by strong Q1 GDP data and recent policy measures,” IMF's First Deputy Managing Director, Gita Gopinath said in the statement.

In the statement, the IMF highlighted the efforts of Chinese authorities on achieving high-quality growth by supporting innovation, especially in the green high-tech sectors, upgrading financial sector regulations, and introducing policies to mitigate property sector and local government risks.

The authorities have implemented “various welcome measures to guide the property market transition, including recent policy announcements regarding lending support for affordable housing,” the IMF said.

The monetary policy easing implemented so far in 2024 is welcome and there is scope for further easing, the IMF said.

China's GDP growth in the first quarter this year beat market expectations to reach 5.3 percent year-on-year, kicking off a good start to the year and laying a strong foundation for achieving the annual development targets.