China's photovoltaic (PV) sector maintained strong performance in the first two months of 2024, with the exports of PV products topping 6.2 billion U.S. dollars, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) on Tuesday.
The output of silicon wafers increased by nearly 40 percent from a year earlier to 130 gigawatts in January and February, with exports of silicon wafers amounting to 9.3 gigawatts, up 7.4 percent year on year.
Meanwhile, the output of crystalline silicon modules reached 76 gigawatts during the period, up 39.4 percent year on year, with the exports reaching 40.1 gigawatts, up 41 percent year on year.
China's PV sector maintains strong performance in first two months
The growth in the Asia-Pacific region will moderate to 4.5 percent this year from the outperformed 5 percent in 2023, said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its "Regional Economic Outlook Asia and Pacific" launched in Singapore Tuesday.
Asia-Pacific is expected to remain the most dynamic region across the world, contributing about 60 percent of global growth in 2024, the report noted.
The region embraces diverse growth drivers, from resilient domestic consumption in most ASEAN countries to a sharp uptick in tourism in the Pacific Island countries, IMF said.
Near-term risks are now broadly balanced. Retreating inflation and the prospect of earlier monetary easing have increased the likelihood of a soft landing, IMF said.
Stronger-than-expected growth in Europe and the United States will bring growth to Asia's exporters while increased geo-economic fragmentation and geopolitical tensions continue to pose serious downside risks to medium-term growth in the region, it added.
Central banks should ensure that inflation returns smoothly to target, and policymakers should avoid making decisions overly dependent on anticipated interest rate moves by the Federal Reserve, IMF noted.
Asia-Pacific economy to grow at 4.5 pct in 2024: IMF
