China

At this time of year, many policymakers want to know how fast their economies will grow in the year ahead. China’s leaders set themselves a still tougher question: how fast their economy “should” grow. They are seeking not a forecast but a target. A boy poses with a Chinese national flag in front of Tiananmen Square in Beijing.. (Reuters)A boy poses with a Chinese national flag in front of Tiananmen Square in Beijing.. (Reuters)The Central Economic Work Conference will conclude as The Economist goes to press. At the event, Communist Party officials will have debated whether to stick with this year’s growth target of “around 5%”. Their answer, which is not usually revealed until March, will guide fiscal and monetary policymaking in the year ahead, as well as the borrowing and spending p...

China’s GDP Growth is Now Lagging the Rest of AsiaThis was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources. China’s economy is facing a series of significant challenges, including a property crisis and high youth unemployment. After decades of rapid growth, the country is now expected to experience less economic growth than other Asian nations. This graphic illustrates the projected growth of per-capita GDP for selected Asian nations between 2023 and 2026, based on data compiled by HSBC as of November 2024. Chinese Economy LaggingIndia and Southeast Asian nations are projected to achieve an average per-capita GDP growth of 6.5% over the 2023–2026 period. Most of these...

China’s gross domestic product growth slowed during the first three quarters of 2024, from 5.3% to 4.7% to 4.6%, raising fears that the country would not achieve its annual growth target of around 5%. But the latest data suggest that China’s economy is finally turning the corner.Economic activity in China has been relatively weak since the COVID-19 crisis. This was not unexpected, at least not at first: three years of pandemic lockdowns strained household, corporate and local-government balance sheets. Declining business confidence — partly a response to a regulatory crackdown on finance, the property sector and the platform economy — did not help matters. In early 2021, when the United States emerged from the worst of its pandemic lockdowns, American households quickly began spending ...

Go to college, find a job, buy a house, get married: For decades, homeownership has been seen as an essential part of life in China. Based on that long-standing truth, analysts are forecasting optimistic outcomes for China’s housing market. However, all this may come to an end if China’s younger generation ceases to acquire residential properties. From 2010 to 2020, the proportion of Chinese adults aged 25 to 34 who own homes fell from over 70 percent to 50 percent, with major cities seeing nearly 30 percent of young adults renting their homes, compared to just 11 percent of those aged 45 to 54 This change has been years in the making. Between skyrocketing home prices, the housing market debt default crisis, and a shifting culture, China’s younger generation is facing a vastly diffe...

Jidu Auto, a rising star in the Electric Vehicle (EV) sector, grabbed headlines just a few months ago with the launch of its second model. However, the company abruptly announced massive layoffs and the closure of its operations this week, stirring concerns about an impending shakeout in China's EV industry. "It's over. Don't watch anymore; we're shutting down. Just leave. Yes, our car company has gone bankrupt. It happened today. Leave quickly," declared a Jidu Auto live stream host tearfully, highlighting the shock and devastation among the employees.  On December 13th, BYD and Geely released a joint statement revealing that Jidu Auto would undergo layoffs and cease operations. The statement cited "tremendous changes" in the industry's competitive landscape, making the curre...

China stocks led losses in Asia Friday as Beijing’s affirmation of its recent policy shifts and plans to boost growth, following a high-profile meeting Thursday, appeared to have fallen short of investors’ expectations. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 1.83% in its final hour of trade, while mainland China’s CSI 300 lost 2.37% and ended at 3,933.18. Most other Asia-Pacific markets also fell, tracking Wall Street declines following a hotter-than-expected producer price inflation reading. The outlier was South Korea’s Kospi, which gained 0.5% to close at 2,494.46, marking a four day winning streak, while the small-cap Kosdaq rose 1.52% to 693.73, also notching four straight winning days. Internet firm Kakao gained over 5%, with many of its subsidiaries seeing huge gains. Shares ...

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng indexjumped nearly 3% in its final hour of trade, after china vowed “more proactive” fiscal measures and “moderately” looser monetary policy next year to boost domestic consumption. The announcement came from an official readout of a key policy meeting that outlined upcoming economic priorities. Prior to the news, mainland China’s CSI 300 index fell 0.17% to close at 3,966.57 after China’s consumer price growth came in below expectations in November. CPI rose 0.2% year on year, down from a 0.3% increase in October, according to the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday. Economists from Reuters forecast price growth of 0.5%. Elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific, markets were mixed as traders assessed revised economic growth data from Japan and South Korea’s pol...