Economic growth in East Asia and the Pacific will weaken sharply in 2022 due to a slowdown in China, but growth will accelerate next year, the World Bank said.

The WB expects growth in East Asia and the Pacific, including China, to slow to 3.2% in 2022, down from an April forecast of 5.0% and growth of 7.2% the previous year.

The World Bank said the weaker forecast was mainly due to a sharp slowdown in China's growth caused by its strict zero COVID rules, which disrupted industrial production, domestic sales and exports.

China, which accounts for 86% of the region's economic output out of 23 countries, is projected to grow 2.8% this year, a significant slowdown from the bank's previous forecast of 5.0%. China's economy grew 8.1% in 2021, its best performance in a decade.

In 2023, the world's second-largest economy grew at 4.5%.

Another risk to the region's prospects has been the aggressive raising of interest rates by central banks around the world to combat fast-growing inflation. According to the World Bank, this has caused capital outflows and currency depreciation.