Credit rating agency Fitch Ratings has raised its forecast for China’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth to 8 percent next year, up from 7.7 percent in its previous forecast in September, said media reports.
“This would be well above our estimate of China’s long-term growth potential of around 5.5 percent, but is quite achievable from such a low base in 2020,” Fitch analysts Brian Coulton and Pawel Borowski wrote in its report published on Thursday.
The lastest rating follows the increased domestic consumption demand and expectations for coronavirus vaccine deployment worldwide, reported the CNBC.
Data shows a significant recovery in Chinese consumption in the last few months, particularly in the catering industry and other activities that involve social gatherings, said Fitch analysts, while the global economic environment will aslo likely to improve in the second half of next year as more people are vaccinated.
China’s economy is set to expand 2.3 percent this year, Fitch said in its report, after a contraction of 6.8 percent in the first quarter due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the CNBC report, Fitch also predicts global growth to contract 3.7 percent this year, slightly better than the 4.4 percent decline forecast in September, and the Global GDP is set to expand 5.3 percent next year.