China’s firms are taking flight, worrying its rulers
Policymakers at home and abroad are anxious about offshoring
FOR DECADES, China has put foreign capital to work. Officials pushed Western companies to trade technology for access to its vast market, helping build Chinese rivals that were often better and always cheaper. These upstarts began shipping goods westwards. The resulting “China shock” is often blamed for causing dislocation and despair in America’s heartlands. Now, though, it is China’s turn to worry. Its manufacturers are taking flight.
Explore more
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Footloose factories”
More from Finance & economics
China meets its official growth target. Not everyone is convinced
For one thing, 2024 saw the second-weakest rise in nominal GDP since the 1970s
Ethiopia gets a stockmarket. Now it just needs some firms to list
The country is no longer the most populous without a bourse
Are big cities overrated?
New economic research suggests so
Why catastrophe bonds are failing to cover disaster damage
The innovative form of insurance is reaching its limits
“The Traitors”, a reality TV show, offers a useful economics lesson
It is a finite, sequential, incomplete information game
Will Donald Trump unleash Wall Street?
Bankers have plenty of reason to be hopeful