China's growth likely to slow to 5.9% in 2020: Survey

Economists' predicted figure would be first below 6% since 1990

China is projected to achieve the government-set growth target of between 6% and 6.5%, but the slowdown of the world's second-largest economy is likely to continue into the next year. © Reuters

TAKESHI KIHARA, Nikkei staff writer

December 26, 2019 17:15 JST

HONG KONG -- Leading economists' average forecast for China's GDP growth in 2020 is 5.9%, a survey of experts in the field by Nikkei and Nikkei Quick News has found.

The projection is even lower than the 6.2% forecast for this year, as the U.S.-China trade war is expected to keep applying downward pressure. It would be the first time since 1990 -- the year after the Tiananmen Square incident -- for China's economy to expand less than 6%.