China’s economy likely to grow at 6 percent in year 2023: Exper ts

Although there are still great uncertainties ahead, the Chinese economy is likely to rebound strongly in 2023 This observation is based on two rationales First, because of the low base GDP growth rate of 3 percent in 2022 the base effect will play an important role in shaping China’s growth rate in 2023

Second, China still has ample room to implement expansionary macroeconomic policies to stimulate the economy when necessary Barring black swan events, China s

GDP growth rate in 2023 should exceed 5 percent To boost confidence, the Chinese government could set the GDP growth target at 6 percent for 2023

The most recent official statistics show that the contributions of final consumption capital formation, and net exports to China’s GDP growth in 2022 were 1 percent, 1 5 percent, and 0 5 percent, respectively

Consumption accounted for some 55 percent of GDP It should be the most important contributor to GDP growth In fact, in 2021, its share of the contribution to GDP growth was 65 4 percent However in 2022 the share shrank to just 32 8 percent Certainly, China needs to see a strong recovery of consumer demand but it remains unclear how direct stimulation measures will work out

While consumption may “rebound with a vengeance” in the short term, it won’t last if household incomes fail to increase and income expectations fail to improve Measures such as issuing consumer coupons, as advocated by many scholars, may be necessary for poverty alleviation and social stabilization But these measures may not work to encourage households to spend more in a sufficiently large and sustained way Instead households may save more, because they have purchased certain goods and services with coupons The key to promoting household consumption is an increase in household incomes based on economic growth

For decades, China’s economic growth was mainly driven by investment Though since 2010 the contribution to GDP growth by investment has decreased significantly However, in 2022 growth in investment once again became the main driver for GDP growth Its share of contribution to GDP growth surpassed 50 percent Investment in China consists of three main categories: Manufacturing investment, real estate investment, and infrastructure investment ag e n c i e s mUlTaN s ta f f r e p o r t iN C R E D I B L E bowling in the death by Lahore Qalandars pacers kicked off their title defence with a sensational one-run win over Multan Sultans in the opening match of the HBL Pakistan Super League 8

Multan Sultans, playing in front of the home crowd at the Multan Cricket Stadium, required 49 off the last five overs and with set batter Mohammad Rizwan and David Miller at the crease seemed on course to a comfortable win

But in an outstanding spell of death bowling, Shaheen Shah Afridi gave only 16 runs in two overs (16th and 18th) and bowled Rizwan with a slower one Haris Rauf was equally brilliant, giving only four runs in the 17th and removing Miller with a pitch perfect yorker at the start of the 19th

Experienced T20 batter Kieron Pollard, who Multan Sultans had picked in the replacement draft, smashed Haris for a six and a four towards the end of the penultimate over that added 14 runs for a r m y, W a p d a b a g n a t i o n a l n e t b a l l

C ’ s h i p t i t l e s islamabad s ta f f r e p o r t his side and left only 15 to be chased in the last over Shaheen trusted Zaman Khan, who had bowled incredibly well in the last season to defend 12 off the last over against Islamabad United and the right-arm fast bowler delivered

In what turned out to be dramatic last over Pollard was run out running for the second, on the second ball, the third ball, matches here in 2020 – and that came from a side who were playing their firstever match at this venue

Pakistan Army and Wapda clinched the National Netball Championship titles here at Liaqat Gymnasium of the Pakistan Sports Complex on Tuesday

In the men s final match Army defeated Wapda by 2730 points and won the title Both teams were tied at 25, 25 points at the end of scheduled time Later six minutes were given on which Pakistan Army won by 27-30 points Iqbal and Wasim scored 17 and 13 points for Pakistan Army while Zain Hussain scored 27 points for Wapda

In the women’s final, Wapda defeated Sindh by 16-7 points Nisha Sultan scored 11 points for Wapda and Quratul Ain scored 7 points for Sindh

Before the finals, 3rd position matches were played in which Pakistan Air Force outplayed Pakistan Navy by 13-23 points in the men’s event Akhtar scored 23 points for Pakistan Air Force while Babar Manan scored 13 points for Pakistan Navy

In the women’s third position match, Pakistan Army downed Higher Education Commission by 18-30 points Ayesha got 24 points for Pakistan Army while Khadija got 12 points for Higher Education Commission Chairman Pakistan Netball Federation and former IG Police (R), Zafar Iqbal Awan who was the chief guest at the closing ceremony of the championship distributed trophies medals and certificates to the winning players President, Pakistan Netball Federation, Mudassar Arain, Senior Vice President Sameen Malik, Secretary General, Syed Gohar Raza, Directors, PSB Saeed Akhtar and Muhammad Waheed Khan and a large number of peoples were also present on the occasion islamabad s ta f f r e p o r t a full toss, thudded onto Usman Khan’s pad right in front of stumps, Usama Mir was run out on the fourth, Khushdil Shah spanked the second last ball for a four to bring down the equation to six off one but failed to connect the last ball that raced away for four instead

This was Multan Sultans first defeat at home – they had won their all three

Multan Sultans had a solid start to the run chase of 176 with Shan Masood (35 off 31) and Rizwan, whose 75 off 50, comprising eight fours and a six was the top score in the match, putting a 100-run partnership Shan was caught off Hussain Talat on the 12 2 overs marks and that was the only wicket to fall before Rizwan’s dismissal After Multan Sultans had accumulated 53 runs in the Powerplay, Lahore Qalandars did well to dry up the flow of boundaries as when Miller who scored 24 off 20, struck David Wiese for four on the second ball of the 14th over; it ended a 28ball-long boundary drought Lahore Qalandars were given a solid start by the opening pair of Fakhar Zaman, who became the only second batter in the HBL PSL to cross the 2 000-run mark and debutant Mirza Tahir Baig after Rizwan, the Multan Sultans captain, decided to field after winning the toss The pair added 61 runs before Tahir fell to Akael Hosein after scoring 32 off 26

dS Polo, Master Paints emerge triumphant in openers of Jinnah Gold Polo Cup 2023

laHORE s ta f f r e p o r t

DS Polo and Master Paints (MP) emerged victorious in the opening day matches of the Jinnah Gold Polo Cup 2023 sponsored by Al Rehman Developers and Town Planners here at the Jinnah Polo Fields on Tuesday

Boxers from Britain will not participate at the women s world championships in New Delhi next month, the governing body said on Tuesday, citing concerns about the sport’s Olympic future

The International Boxing Association (IBA) was stripped of involvement in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and boxing is not on the initial programme for the 2028 Los Angeles Games, pending reforms demanded by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)

In December, the IOC raised the possibility of boxing being excluded from the 2024 Paris Games, accusing the IBA of having “no real interest” in the sport or its athletes Qualifying for Paris is being or-

England’s 2019 World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan announced his retirement from all forms of cricket aged 36 on Monday, bringing the curtain down on a career studded with short-form success

Former white-ball captain Morgan, who bowed out of the international game last June, led England to 50-over World Cup glory on home soil and the top of the oneday and Twenty20 rankings M o rg a n c a p t a i n e d E n g l a n d i n 1 2 6 O D I s a n d 7 2 T 2 0 s , r e g i s t e r i n g

11 8 w i n s a s s k i p p e r a c r o s s t h e t w o f o r m a t s

“After much deliberation, I believe now is the right time to step away from the game that has given me so much over the years,” Morgan said in a statement on Twitter

“I will undoubtedly miss the adventure and challenges of play- ing professional cricket

“Since my retirement from international cricket, I have been able to spend more time with my loved ones, and I look forward to being able to do so more and more in the future ”

Dublin-born Morgan made his ODI debut aged 16 with Ireland before he was called up by England in 2009 He played 248 ODIs and 115 T20Is scoring 10 159 runs in total and scored 700 runs in 16 tests

Australian cricketer prefers cash-rich HBL PSL 8 over domestic tournament

islamabad s ta f f r e p o r t

Australian pacer, Andrew Tye, has preferred HBL Pakistan Super League over playing for his domestic side, Western Australia s remaining matches in the ongoing Marsh One-Day Cup

The right-arm pacer will be representing Karachi Kings in the HBL PSL 8 which has ruled him out for the final two games of the tournament against South Australia (in Adelaide on Wednesday) and Tasmania (in Hobart on February 26) as well as the final on March 8 ganised by the IOC

The IBA, backed by Russian energy firm Gazprom, has also reversed bans on boxers from Russia and Belarus competing with national flags and anthems despite the war in Ukraine

The decision reflects ongoing concerns about the future of boxing’s place on the Olympic programme and the recent move by IBA to allow boxers from Russia and Belarus to compete under their national flags, which contravenes resolutions passed by the IOC,” GB Boxing said in a statement

“This has put further distance between IBA and the Olympic movement in addition to the significant, longstanding issues over sporting integrity governance, transparency and financial management which the IOC has asked IBA to address to protect boxing’s place on the Olympic programme

Tye’s absence will be a massive blow to the domestic side’s title defence The 36-year-old isn’t contracted with Western Australia, but is a regular part of their playing XI in the white-ball games Karachi Kings will play their first match of the season against Peshawar Zalmi on Tuesday in National Bank Cricket Arena, Karachi

Earlier England batter Alex Hales has decided to skip England’s upcoming tour to Bangladesh, in order to honour his £145,000 contract with Islamabad United for the upcoming edition of HBL Pakistan Super League

GB Boxing condemns the Russian invasion of Ukraine and has solidarity with the people, boxers, coaches and officials of Ukraine ”

The British governing body added that their participation at the men’s tournament in Tashkent, Uzbekistan in May was under review

The announcement follows USA Boxing and the Irish Athletic Boxing Association’s (IABA) decision to boycott this year s world championships read more

Following the boycotts, the IBA offered to fund U S and Irish boxers wanting to compete in this year ’s world championships

The IBA also warned that it would pursue “strong sanctions against those who initiate and join the participation boycott”

The Boxing Federation of India could not immediately be reached for comment

Bautista Garcia guided DS Polo to a thrilling 8-7½ triumph over Diamond Paints in the first match of the day DS Polo were 5-7½ down when they made a tremendous comeback in the last one and a half minute by thrashing in three back-to-back goals to snatch victory from Diamond Pants Bautista Garcia emerged as hero of the match with a convincing contribution of five fabulous goals while displaying high-quality polo and mallet skills He was ably assisted by another top performer of the day Javier Guerrero, who hammered three tremendous goals including two dying moments match-winning goals, that steered DS Polo to a welldeserving 8-7½ victory From Diamond Paints, which had a half goal handicap advantage Chulo Corti fired in four fantastic goals while Nico Roberts hammered a hattrick

Both the sides started the match well and converted two goals each to finish the first chukker at 2-2 DS Polo played better polo in the second chukker as they slammed in two goals against one goal by Diamond Paints to take a slight 4-3 lead The third chukker was fully dominated by Diamond Paints as they hammered a hat-trick of goals to gain a 6-4 lead DS Polo started the fourth and decisive chukker with an impressive goal to reduce the margin to 6-5 but Diamond Paints struck one more to stretch their lead to 7-5 In the last one and a half minute, DS Polo played outstanding polo and thrashed in three backto-back goals to win the match by 8-7½, as Diamond Paints also had a half goal handicap advantage

Manuel Crespo’s heroics helped Master Paints register a close 8½-7 win over Remounts in the second match of the day Manuel Crespo, the hero of the day from Master Paints, did magic with mallet and polo pony and pumped in splendid five goals Pelagio Balazaldi, Agha Musa Ali Khan and Sufi Muhammad Haroon also played well and contributed with one goal each For team Remounts the major contribution came from Manuel Sundblad, who slammed in four goals while Jota Chavanne banged in a brace and Imran Shahid converted one goal

The first chukker saw both the sides scoring two goals each to level the score at 2-2 Master Paints played well in the second chukker by converting two goals against one by Remounts to earn a slight 4-3 lead Remounts started the highly-charged third chukker with two back-to-back goals to take 5-4 lead but Master Paints then started playing aggressive polo and succeeded in cracking a classic quartet to gain a healthy 8-5 lead

Remounts, which had a half goal handicap advantage, though dominated the fourth and last chukker by banging in a brace yet they lost the opening day match by a close margin of 7½-8 John Fisher and Chris Hyde supervised both the matches as field umpires Two important matches of the prestigious tournament will be played tomorrow (Wednesday)