The World Bank has raised its forecast for China's GDP growth in 2025 to 4.8 percent in its October 2025 East Asia and Pacific Economic Update released on Tuesday, 0.3 percentage points higher than its previous forecast of 4.5 percent in June.
The World Bank also projected China's GDP growth in 2026 to decline from 4.8 percent this year to 4.2 percent in 2026, "because of an expected slowdown in export growth and a likely reduction in the fiscal stimulus in light of rising public debt, as well as continued structural deceleration."
World Bank analysts also predicted that China will roll out more stimulus policies to support its annual growth target.
The report also forecast that the rest of the East Asia and Pacific region will grow by 4.4 percent in 2025 and 4.5 percent in 2026 "in the face of higher trade barriers, elevated global economic policy uncertainty and slower global growth, as well as increased domestic political and policy uncertainty."
Vietnam is expected to lead with a 6.6 percent growth, followed by Mongolia at 5.9 percent, and Palau at 5.7 percent in 2025.
The World Bank warned of slowing global economic momentum due to low consumer and business confidence and higher trade barriers, triggered in large part by U.S. economic and trade policies.
World Bank raises China's GDP forecast to 4.8 pct in 2025
A criminal complaint was filed against Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Thursday, alleging that she has received a political donation from a company that exceeded the legal maximum.
The complaint, sent by Hiroshi Kamiwaki, a constitutional law professor at Kobe Gakuin University, said a local chapter of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in Nara Prefecture, represented by Takaichi, received in August 2024 a 10 million yen (about 64,400 U.S. dollars) donation, above a 7.5 million yen limit stipulated in the political funds control law for a donor of that size.
Similarly, an LDP chapter in Kanagawa Prefecture led by Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi was the recipient of a 10 million yen donation from another firm, also surpassing the 7.5 million yen cap. Kamiwaki has separately filed a complaint on Wednesday over the violation. The cases add to the ruling LDP's slush fund scandal, first revealed in 2023, in which some party factions of the LDP allegedly instructed member lawmakers to sell political fundraising party tickets beyond their assigned quotas without recording the amount as revenue in its political fund reports, and then funneled the surplus back to lawmakers as kickbacks, creating off-the-books funds.
Among the senior officials Takaichi appointed after taking office in October, seven have been linked to the LDP's slush fund scandal. Critics said her ambiguous stance on the scandal suggests limited willingness to push for fundamental reform.
Japanese PM faces complaint over illegally accepting corporate donations
