China remains the world's leading market for plastics Chinese economic growth has slowed in recent years, but the country's performance still strong, accounting for around a third of global economic growth. China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 6.9 percent in the first quarter of 2017. But for the rest of the year, GDP growth is expected to be slightly weaker In 2016, China's GDP grew by 6.7 percent, while the forecast for 2017 is 6.5 percent. The 2016 figure was the lowest in China for 26 years. The growth rate in 2007 was 14.2 percent in 2007.