World Bank, Barclays raise GDP forecast

Continuing improvement: People visiting a shopping area in Beijing. Surveys of Chinese factory managers show steady growth but no rapid improvement in June. — AP

BEIJING: Foreign institutions have raised their forecasts for China’s economic growth this year amid the nation’s better-than-expected first-quarter performance, strong policy stimulus and resilience in exports.

While Barclays recently revised its China gross domestic product (GDP) forecast upward from 4.4% to 5%, the World Bank readjusted its expectations from 4.5% to 4.8%.