China’s economy grew at its slowest pace in a year in the latest quarter amid a trade war with the US and long-running woes in its property market. Fragile domestic demand has left China’s economy heavily reliant on manufacturing and trade, at a time of mounting tensions with the Donald Trump administration. GDP rose by 4.8% year on year between July and September, down from the second-quarter growth rate of 5.2%. It expanded by 1.1% in the third quarter compared with the second, the same as the revised growth rate…
Tag: Chinese economy
China’s economic growth hits one-year low as house prices fall again – business live
From 34m ago Introduction: China’s economy expands at slowest pace in a year Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets, and the world economy. Growth across China’s economy has slowed to its lowest level in a year, as the trade war with the US has dampened activity. China’s GDP expanded by 4.8% year-on-year in the July-September quarter, new data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows shows, broadly matching expectations. That’s a slowdown from the second quarter of the year, when GDP rose…
The IMF boss is right to say ‘buckle up’ – the global economy is facing multiple menaces
Little more than 48 hours passed last week between a warning from the IMF chief, Kristalina Georgieva, that “uncertainty is the new normal” and Donald Trump’s latest tariff onslaught – this time aimed at China. Markets plunged on Friday after Trump threatened to levy punitive additional tariffs of 100% on Chinese goods in retaliation for Beijing’s blocks on exports of rare earth minerals. The world’s finance ministers and central bankers will meet in Washington this week for the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank. In her curtain-raiser speech…
China is eyeing superpower status via Africa and the Caribbean. But are they partners or pawns?
At a high-profile global summit held by China this month, there were strong statements directed at the west’s “bullying” as well as renewed calls to stabilise “global governance”. The meeting was the clearest indication yet that China is vying to become a world superpower, aiming to marshal an anti-western bloc. But the foundations of that position partly lie in Africa and the Caribbean, where China has been building relationships for decades. A stable partner or a trap? Iconic modernist space … the Friendship Hall, on the banks of the river…
Chinese economy slows amid Trump trade war and weaker consumer spending
China’s economy showed further signs of weakness last month as it comes under strain from Donald Trump’s trade wars and domestic problems, with factory output and consumer spending rising at their slowest pace for about a year. The disappointing data adds pressure on Beijing to roll out more stimulus to fend off a sharp slowdown, with a debt crisis denting the country’s once-booming property sector and exports facing stronger headwinds. Economists were split over whether policymakers should introduce more near-term fiscal support to hit their annual 5% growth target, with…
Evergrande: China’s property giant delisted from Hong Kong stock exchange
Evergrande, formerly one of China’s biggest property developers, has been delisted from the Hong Kong stock exchange, capping the end of a long fall from grace. The company was removed from the exchange on Monday after an 18-month freeze on trading, imposed when the developer – once valued at more than HK$400bn (US$50bn) – was put into liquidation. Liquidators had told investors earlier in August the listing was set to be cancelled and they would not seek a review, after the stock exchange warned the company it had passed the…
The Guardian view on rural China: urbanites contemplate an escape to the country | Editorial
“People gone; buildings empty: this is the fact of daily life in the countryside,” lamented the author Liang Hong in her bestselling account China in One Village. It was a grim portrait of her home town – its vitality ebbing as the forces of modern life drained it of young people, polluted its water, exploited its resources and even turned the local school into a pigsty. Its quarter of a million sales reflected not just her distinctive writing, but the familiarity of the story. As urban China prospered with the…
Swatch pulls ‘slanted eye’ ad after backlash in China
The Swiss watchmaker Swatch has apologised and removed an advert featuring a model pulling the corners of his eyes, after the image prompted accusations of racism and calls for a boycott on Chinese social media. Internet users heavily criticised the “slanted eye” gesture made by the Asian male model as racist. In a post on Instagram and the Chinese social media platform Weibo on Saturday, Swatch acknowledged the “recent concerns regarding the portrayal of a model” in the advert and said it had deleted the promotional material worldwide. “We sincerely…
Why Peak China may finally have arrived | George Magnus
Proclamations about the inevitability of China’s dominance of the global economic system, or the so-called Chinese century, were made long before Donald Trump’s attempts to stymie its trade with the US. Common concerns about coercive politics and human rights aside, some notions of China as an unstoppable economic, technological and military behemoth sit alongside others focused more on an increasingly sclerotic, over- centralised political economy, that depends on wasteful economic stimulus, and features poor governance and institutions. The fusion of these notions suggests that we may already have reached “peak…
China’s overcapacity is creating instability at home and abroad | George Magnus
China’s astounding technological success in mass-producing quality electric vehicles (EVs) sits alongside a serious flaw in its industrial model: overcapacity. It has the capacity to produce about three times as many units as it can sell at home. The consequences so far have included widespread price cutting, large losses, misallocation of capital, and surging low-cost EV exports leading to trade conflict. The bigger problem, though, is that EVs are just a part of a broader overcapacity problem involving a myriad of sectors and products. At home, Chinese overcapacity lies at…