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BEIJING – (AP) – The World Bank raised its forecast for China’s economic growth this year from 8.1% to 8.5%, saying on Tuesday a full recovery will require advances in coronavirus vaccinations.
The report adds to the positive signs for China, the first major economy to recover from the pandemic. Factory and consumer activity are back above pre-outbreak levels, although authorities have reintroduced travel controls in some areas to counter the outbreak of new variants of the virus.
China’s economic growth is likely to decline to 5.4% next year as the recovery from last year’s historic global slump fades and activity normalizes, the World Bank said.
His forecast was an increase from an April report that said China and Vietnam were the only East Asian economies to achieve a “V-shaped” recovery in 2020 with production above pre-coronavirus levels.
China is well on its way to vaccinating 40% of its population by early summer, but “a full recovery also requires further progress in achieving widespread vaccination,” the World Bank said.
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