[TAIPEI] Taiwan cut its economic growth forecast for 2016 as China's slowdown weighs on export demand.

The economy will expand 1.47 per cent this year, down from an earlier projection of 2.32 per cent, the government said today. Gross domestic product contracted 0.52 per cent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, steeper than the originally reported 0.28 per cent decline.

Taiwan's export-led economy has been buffeted by a slowdown on the mainland, and as China becomes an increasingly sophisticated competitor in high-tech manufacturing. It now falls to president elect Tsai Ing-Wen to find ways of reviving the sluggish growth pace.

The forecast for exports was lowered to minus 2.78 per cent for 2016, from 1.97 per cent growth seen previously.

BLOOMBERG