No recession after all? Business leaders are more hopeful as China reopens

Davos, Switzerland CNN — Bullishness about the global economy has been in short supply among business leaders in recent months, with fears of recession clouding the outlook and restraining investment. Now, cautious optimism is peeking through. That’s thanks in large part to China , whose sudden removal of strict coronavirus restrictions late last year is expected to unleash a wave of spending that may offset economic weakness in the United States and Europe. “The reopening of China has to be the major event and it will be a major driver of growth,” Laura Cha, chair of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Tuesday. It’s an assessment shared by plenty of others attending the annual gathering of executives, billionaires and politicians in the Swiss mountain resort, in contrast with the WEF’s survey of chief economists published Monday showing two-thirds of them think a recession in 2023 is likely. Douglas Peterson, the chief executive of S&P Global, said that despite his expectations for a shallow recession in Europe , the United Kingdom and the United States this year, China’s more relaxed approach to coronavirus — after three years of strict lockdowns, closed […]

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