China is facing a confluence of problems: Sluggish consumer spending, a crisis-ridden property market, flagging exports, record youth unemployment and towering local government debt.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg
China’s Economic Woes Are Multiplying — and Xi Jinping Has No Easy Fix
China’s momentum to surpass the US as the world’s biggest economy may be thwarted by current dynamics.
It was meant to be the year China’s economy, unshackled from the world’s strictest Covid-19 controls, roared back to help power global growth.
Instead, halfway through 2023, it’s facing a confluence of problems: Sluggish consumer spending, a crisis-ridden property market, flagging exports, record youth unemployment and towering local government debt. The impact of these strains is starting to reverberate around the globe, impacting everything from commodity prices to equity markets. The risk of Fed hikes tipping the US into recession has also heightened the prospect of a simultaneous slump in the world's two economic powerhouses.