TOKYO -- Against a backdrop of growing optimism, fueled by rising exports, China's economy will grow by an inflation-adjusted 6.4% and four big Southeast Asian economies will log combined growth of 5.2% this year, according to a forecast by the Japan Center for Economic Research.
JCER raised its 2018 growth outlooks for China and the ASEAN4 by 0.2 percentage point each from the previous forecast in August 2017. GDP growth in Malaysia is expected to reach 5.2% this year, up 0.7 point, while Thailand's growth outlook was raised to 3.9%, up 0.5 point.
