China’s economic woes are worsening, and the authorities seem powerless to stop the downturn. Even the weather is conspiring against them. | OPINION by Stephen Bartholomeusz
About now, Xi Jinping must be wondering whether events - and the elements - are conspiring to strip the lustre from his long march towards an unprecedented third term as Communist Party leader and China’s president at the party’s national congress later this year.
and completely miscalculated the impact of its well-intentioned but heavy-handed efforts to rein in leverage in its property development sector.Economic data released at the start of this week shows that despite some efforts by the central authorities to stimulate an economy that has been nearly flatlining, China’s economy is still slowing.
The markets’ response to the data was revealing. Oil prices fell sharply – oil is now trading around $US92 a barrel, down from more than $US98 a barrel at the end of last week – along with other commodities like copper, nickel and agricultural products. Traders clearly see China’s economy, and therefore its demand for raw materials, fading
The COVID-zero policy was supposedly fine-tuned to be more targeted earlier this year, but China’s cities and industries are still experiencing abrupt lockdowns that add to its citizens’ anxieties and undermine industrial activity.Those influences on the economy could be attributed to policy blunders, or at least crude execution.
This week, however, China’s Premier Li Keqiang urged local government leaders to enact measures that would boost growth and consumption and provide more fiscal support via bond issues to finance investments. He also asked them to balance their COVID-19 responses with the need to generate more economic growth.
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