China’s economic slowdown will hit growth in developing East Asia and the Pacific from this year until at least 2018, the World Bank said in April, warning of volatile global markets and urging caution.
Regional growth is forecast to slow from 6.5 per cent in 2015 to 6.3 per cent this year and 6.2 per cent in 2017 and 2018, the bank said in its latest outlook. However, Southeast Asian economies led by Vietnam and the Philippines are still expected to see healthy expansion, with both forecast to see growth rates of more than 6.0 per cent, it said.
The bank said the regional outlook reflected China’s gradual shift to slower, more sustainable growth, expected at 6.7 per cent this year and 6.5 per cent in 2017 and 2018, from 6.9 per cent in 2015. China is in the midst of reforms as it moves to make domestic consumption a key economic growth driver instead of exports and as manufacturing gives way to services taking on a bigger role in the economy.