China’s economy may be growing faster, but big problems remain

China’s emergenceubs from its covid-19 controls was meant to be the biggest economic event of the year. Instead, the reopening has turned into one of the biggest disappointments. In a recent survey by Bank of America, fund managers in Asia expressed their “fatigue and frustration” with China’s weak growth and the lack of a concerted government response.On the face of it, economic data released on October 18th should cheer them up. The figures showed that China’s economy grew by 4.9% in the third quarter, compared with a year earlier—faster than expected. And its growth compared with the previous quarter was stronger still: 5.3% at an annualised rate. The economy should now have little trouble meeting the government’s growth target of “around 5%” for this year. , a bank, raised its forecast for 2023 from 4.8% to 5.2%.