Its flagship Asian Development Outlook said India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam will be behind an expected 5.7% increase in Asia-Pacific gross domestic product, with China’s expansion seen moderating.
“Developing Asia continues to drive the global economy even as the region adjusts to a more consumption-driven economy in the People’s Republic of China,” ADB’s chief economist, Yasuyuki Sawada, said in a statement published Thursday.
With China’s economy seen slowing to 6.5% growth in 2017 and then 6.2% in 2018, regional expansion is tipped to come in slightly weaker than the 5.8% seen last year.
Chinese growth is at its weakest levels in a quarter of a century, hit by a drop in global demand for its goods but also as its leaders try to transform it from an economy driven by trade and state investment to one supported by domestic demand.
“The recent upswing in the real estate sector and heavy industries will not last,” ADB analyst Jürgen Conrad said at a Beijing news conference Thursday.
Thursday, April 25, 2024
