China: Moody’s Revises Upward 2025 Economic Growth Forecast
Foreign direct investment Inflow is growing: +6% in November
Moody’s international ratings agency said it has “revised upward China’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for 2025, which should increase at an annualized rate of 4.2%, up from the previous 4% forecast.” In a report published on Monday, December 16, the rating agency also expects “stabilization of credit conditions and moderate success of the Chinese government’s stimulus efforts, which should mitigate the negative impact on China’s economy of potential tariff increases by the USA and the European Union.”
Meanwhile, China’s Ministry of Commerce announced that “foreign direct investment (FDI) in actual utilization in China increased 6% in November compared to the same month last year.” Between January and November 2024, actual FDI utilization totaled 749.7 billion yuan (about 104 billion US dollars), down 27.9% from a year earlier. Nevertheless, in the first 11 months of 2024, China’s foreign direct investment helped set up 52,379 new enterprises, up 8.9% year-on-year.
As for domestic consumption, “China’s consumption recovery trend was unchanged, even though annual retail sales growth slowed in November compared with October.” As stated by Fu Linghui (pictured) of China’s National Bureau of Statistics, “the combination of policies already adopted by the Chinese government and those planned for the coming months will give a further boost to consumption, although the external situation has become even more challenging.”
