Two investment banks cut their China GDP forecasts even lower

China has tried to control the latest Covid outbreak with frequent virus testing requirements. Pictured here is a nucleic acid testing site on May 25, 2022, in Beijing, China.

BEIJING — Two investment banks cut their China GDP forecasts this week for a third time this year based on the toll of persistent Covid controls.

Both estimates are under 4% — well below the official target of around 5.5% growth for 2022.

UBS cut its forecast to 3%, down from 4.2% previously and the lowest among estimates tracked by CNBC.

JPMorgan slashed its forecast to 3.7% growth, down from 4.3%.

"The easing of Covid restrictions will unlikely be as rapid as in 2020 given the nature of Omicron," UBS economist Tao Wang and a team wrote in a...