Can China’s consumers save its economy?
Our number-crunching suggests economic “rebalancing” will be exceptionally hard
MOST EMERGING economies struggle to live within their means. China, however, struggles to live up to them. Even in the best of times, the combined spending of its households, firms and government is not enough to buy all that it can produce, leaving a surplus that must be exported. The country has run a trade surplus for 34 of the past 40 years. And these are not the best of times. China is enduring its longest spell of deflation since the Asian crisis over a quarter of a century ago. An epic stockmarket rout since late 2022 has seen investors lose $2trn.
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This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “Spend more, please”
From the February 10th 2024 edition
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Trump, trade and feeding China’s pigs
As a trade war looms, China looks to cut its reliance on America
Helping America’s hawks get inside the head of Xi Jinping
China’s leader is a risk-taker. How far will he go in confronting America?
Snuffing out the flame of freedom in Hong Kong
Dozens of pro-democracy activists are thrown into jail for up to a decade
China’s greatest dumpling run
A big gathering of young cyclists is ended by officials
A spate of horrific car-rammings shakes China
They are known as “revenge on society” attacks
Mega-polluter China believes it is a climate saviour
It accounts for almost 40% of global investment in clean energy
