JPMorgan cuts China growth forecast for fifth time since August

LONDON - JPMorgan cuts its fourth quarter growth forecast for China to 4.0% quarter-on-quarter from 5.0% on Friday, citing the impact of power shortages and the recurrence of COVID-19 clusters hitting consumer spending and services.

"Looking back, we have downgraded China's growth forecasts five times since August," JPMorgan's Haibin Zhu said in a note, adding the bank now expected full-year growth of 7.8% and 4.7% in 2022.

"In particular, to smooth out COVID-related volatility, we note that the pace of average annual GDP growth (compared to two years ago) has decelerated notably."