World

The world’s second-largest economy is heading into 2024 on a precarious footing amid deep-seated structural issues. The Chinese economy’s precarious footing looks set to continue into 2024, as deep-seated structural issues and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s consolidation of political control threaten to dampen growth. China’s reopening after the lifting of its harsh “zero-COVID” restrictions in January coincided with challenging economic conditions overseas, as soaring inflation made consumers less inclined to buy Chinese goods. At home, Chinese consumers were wary to start spending again after nearly two years of lockdowns and border closures. In July, China bucked the global trend and entered a period of deflation, which it struggled to exit in the second half of the year. ...

The number of candidates taking China’s civil service exam reaches a record high as graduates seek secure jobs. But only a lucky few will land employment in the government. A good result on China’s annual national civil service exam is a requirement for any Chinese candidate who wants to be considered for the tens of thousands of vacant civil service jobs that the government seeks to fill every year. When 22-year-old recent graduate Du Xin sat down for the exam in December last year at a test centre in the city of Shijiazhuang in China’s Hebei province, she had been studying vigorously for six months. Some applicants even hire tutors to prepare them for the exam. Candidates are tested broadly on their general knowledge and analytical skills while in more recent years they have...

China’s leaders pledged to continue proactive fiscal policies and prudent monetary policies.Policy language stresses on stability and “moderately strengthening” fiscal policy are similar to a Politburo statement last Friday.China’s leaders commit to nine-point plan to revive the economy with a focus on high-quality development, including measures to boost domestic demand and tackle the spiraling real estate crisis in the world’s second-largest economy. China’s leaders vowed to boost domestic demand, prioritize the development of strategic sectors and tackle the country’s real estate crisis, following a key meeting that laid out economic priorities for the new year. Under a new slogan pledging to achieve stability through economic progress, Chinese leaders said it’s necessary to over...

China’s state assets supervisor has warned government firms to be mindful of financial risk as smaller banks, property firms report heavy debt loads Cautionary words show concerns over financial health not limited to institutions more local in scope China’s state assets watchdog has identified four areas within enterprises run by the central government worthy of careful monitoring – trust companies, finance subsidiaries, private equity and commercial factoring – indicating a tendency towards risk control running deep throughout the country’s economy. Including state-owned industrial giants in a call for mitigation of systemic shortfalls shows the uncertainty generated by solvency concerns over local government financing vehicles, property firms and smaller banks is not strictly...

The latest Chinese economic data was underwhelming, so the government may need to stay late to work on a better solution. What does this mean? China’s economy is used to making the world jealous: the country overtook Italy, France, the UK, Germany and Japan’s economies between 2000 and 2010, and it’s held the silver spot behind the US ever since. So it’s understandable that after building up quite the reputation, the Chinese government is less than delighted about the economy’s current pause. November’s data showed that the manufacturing sector was even quieter than the month before, as tentative shoppers – conscious of the economy’s shaky ground – held back from ordering anything they didn’t actually need. And with the services sector also clocking in lower...