China expected to beat Eurozone in GDP

A freight ship loading and unloading at the port of Qingdao, Shandong Province on January 13, 2018. [File Photo: IC]

Data compiled by Bloomberg indicates that China's GDP will reach $13.2 trillion US dollars this year, surpassing the combined total of the 19 Eurozone countries. 

According to David Mann, the Singapore-based global chief economist for Standard Chartered Bank, "It'll overtake and then persist; it's a function of the economic system, institutional infrastructure, education, and hard infrastructure - all of which have been moving in Asia's favor." 

Mann predicts China's economic growth rate should stay above 6 percent in the next 2 years, while that of the Eurozone would hover at around 2 percent for the next couple of decades. 

Bloomberg points out that China faces financial pressures on several fronts. These include managing its debt burden, opening its financial market to foreign investors, and its aging population.