China’s Economic Numbers Have a Credibility Problem
China’s gross domestic product grew 6.8 percent in the first quarter, smack on its pace in the preceding quarter, which was unchanged from the quarter before that.
China Quietly Releases 2017 Provincial GDP Figures
Provincial GDP figures don't add up to the reported national growth rate.
China's Debt Levels Pose Stability Risk, Says IMF
Fears that China risks being the cause of a fresh global financial crisis have been highlighted by the International Monetary Fund in a hard-hitting warning about the growing debt-dependency of the world’s second biggest economy.
Why China's GDP Growth Rate Tells Us Nothing about Its Economy
China clocked in GDP growth of 6.9% in the first three quarters of 2017, and is set to end the year at 6.8%. But Peking University finance professor Michael Pettis believes that the figure is no indication of the actual state of the Chinese...
Chinese Manufacturing Expanded More Than Expected in November
China reported on Thursday that factory activity expanded at a quicker pace in November, with the official manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index coming in at 51.8 — topping expectations.
Books
06.20.17
Shadow Banking and the Rise of Capitalism in China
This book is about the growth of shadow banking in China and the rise of China’s free markets. Shadow Banking refers to capital that is distributed outside the formal banking system, including everything from Mom and Pop lending shops to online credit to giant state owned banks called Trusts. They have grown from a fraction of the economy 10 years ago to nearly half of all China’s annual 25 trillion renminbi (U.S.$4.1 trillion) in lending in the economy today.
China Has a Huge Debt Problem. How Bad Is It?
Credit rating agency Moody’s downgraded China this week, warning that the country’s financial health is suffering from rising debt and slowing economic growth. It’s the first time the agency has cut China’s rating in nearly three decades.
China Is Facing a Catch-22 Dilemma
A subsidiary of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) has recently reached deals with seven Chinese state-owned enterprises to convert about 60 billion yuan ($8.7 billion) of unpaid loans into equity shares.
Asian Shares Mixed as Investors Eye Trump’s Inauguration
Asian markets were a mixed bag on Friday after China’s latest set of economic data suggest the economy is recovering, even as risk sentiment sours ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration
The Chinese Government Finally Admitted That Its Economic Data Was Made Up
For many who have long believed that China’s economic growth figures seemed too good—and tidy—to be true, they now have official confirmation of that skepticism.
China Banks Extend Record 12.65 Trillion Yuan in Loans in 2016 as Debt Worries Mount
China’s banks extended a record 12.56 trillion yuan ($1.82 trillion) of loans in 2016 as the government encouraged more credit-fueled stimulus to meet its economic growth target
China Should Set More Flexible GDP Growth Target in 2017: Central Bank Adviser
China should set a more flexible economic growth target this year to create more room for reforms, a central bank adviser told the official Xinhua news agency, suggesting a range of 6.0 to 7.0 percent versus 6.5 to 7.0 percent in 2016. China has...
Trump’s Misleading Comparison of the U.S. and Chinese Economies
Emerging markets run faster than advanced economies because of the rule of diminishing returns
Economists Question China’s Consistent Growth Numbers
China says its economy grew 6.7% for the third consecutive quarter
China Industrial Profits Rise Most in 3 Years as Economy Shows Signs of Stabilizing
Is the improvement fleeting or real?
Viewpoint
03.24.16
Why China’s Economy Can’t Collapse
from Radio Free AsiaChina’s economic outlook once again became the focus of attention for many last week. For one thing, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) listed the possibility of a hard landing for China’s economy as the topmost of the world’s...
Caixin Media
02.19.16
Central Bank Governor on Reforming the Exchange Rate, Adopting a Digital Currency
Recently Zhou Xiaochuan, Governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), China’s central bank, had an interview with Caixin and talked about the yuan exchange rate regime reform, macro-prudential policy framework, digital currency, and other...
How China’s Anti-Corruption Drive Is Hurting Growth
Chinese authorities' anti-corruption campaign has knocked between 1 percent and 1.5 percent off the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
The BRICs are dead. Long live the BRICs!
Brazil, Russia, India, China – BRIC.
What Is China’s 'New Normal'?
What a difference two years make, in China.
China's Xi Says Economy Resilient, Has Huge Potential: State Radio
China's economy is resilient and has the capacity to maintain a long-term medium-to-high growth rate.
Conversation
01.26.15
Does Size Matter? (In the U.S. and Chinese Economies, That Is...)
Last week, President Obama’s State of the Union Address touted a U.S. economic recovery....
As Growth Slows, China Pins Hopes on Consumer Spending
The economy increased by 7.3 percent in the last quarter of 2014 and 7.4 percent for the full year, the country’s National Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday. While many countries would welcome such growth, the rate fell short of the government’s...
It’s Time to Give China Some Time
There’s also evidence the country may be approaching something of a Henry Ford moment, when a manufacturing-based economy matures to point where workers can afford to buy the products they're making.
All Eyes Will Be On China This Week
China's economy, the second largest in the world, gets a spot check this week with a barrage of data due that should indicate how successful Beijing has been in supporting growth.
China’s Economy Just Overtook The U.S. In One Key Measure
Here's another way of looking at it -- China's share of the global economy is now slightly bigger than America's, at 16.5 percent to 16.3 percent.
Media
05.06.14
Chinese to the World: Ignore Our GDP
The U.S.-based World Bank grabbed everybody’s attention by announcing that China was poised to displace the United States as the world’s largest economy based on purchasing power. But a survey of the Chinese web shows people at home aren’t buying...
Conversation
04.30.14
Will China’s Economy Be #1 by Dec. 31? (And Does it Matter?)
On April 30, data released by the United Nations International Comparison Program showed China’s estimated 2011 purchasing power parity (PPP) exchange rate was twenty percent higher than...
The World’s Second Biggest Consumer
Based on The Economist's calculations, China outpaced Japan as the world’s second-biggest consumer economy last year.
Caixin Media
02.11.14
Local Governments Aim for Lower GDP Growth This Year
Most of the local governments that have announced their GDP targets for this year aimed lower than they did in 2013, citing the need to rebalance the economy and improve the quality of growth. Many missed their growth targets last year.
...
Media
02.03.14
‘Chicken Fart Decade’: GDP Vs. Smog
Chinese media have debated why January saw pollution so extreme it closed schools and...
Infographics
08.12.13
Is China’s Massive Infrastructure Spending Wise or Wasteful?
China leads the world in infrastructure investment. The new roads, new railroads, new skyscrapers, even whole new cities that seem to spring into existence every day leave little doubt that investment has been ambitious. But has it been wise?...
China’s Baffling G.D.P. Figures
After Q1 2013, no single province claimed a real GDP growth rate lower than the nationwide number. The contradiction between the national and provincial data is nothing more than a continuation of a long-time trend.
Conversation
03.28.13
Will China’s Renminbi Replace the Dollar as the World’s Top Currency?
Patrick Chovanec:
This week’s news that Brazil and China have signed a $30 billion currency swap agreement gave a renewed boost to excited chatter over the rising influence of China’s currency, the renminbi (RMB). The...
Lies, Damned Lies, And Chinese Statistics
Although the information provided by the National Bureau of Statistics is not completely transparent, it has taken steps to free national data from the influence of local exaggeration.
Pressures at Home, Tensions Offshore
It is tempting to conclude that the increasingly dangerous dispute between China and Japan over the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands is driven in part by Beijing’s need to distract its populace from problems at home
China GDP: If Not 10%, Then What
Standard Chartered economist says China's GDP is likely to grow 7% over the next five years without big interim reforms.
Debating China’s Economic Future
Is China’s economic growth destined to plunge down to 3% to 4% a year, or can it be sustained in the current 7% to 8% range? China Real Time has asked heavyweight experts Michael Pettis of Peking University...
China Faces Tough Choice on Growth
China's latest evidence of sputtering growth underlines a dilemma for its incoming leaders: They can shore up the economy by doubling down on an exhausted growth model, or take a risky political bet on reforms that...
Buyers Dry Up in China as Economy Slows
China's soft August trade data could presage further weakness in its key export sector in the months ahead, suggesting that the world's No. 2 economy will continue to slow.
The data released Monday showed that China's external and internal...
Deeper Slowdown Suspected in China
Official data due this week are expected to show growth in China slowing to its lowest rate since the global financial crisis. But some economists say they are turning up evidence that the true picture could be even worse.
China's Coming Economic Transformation
China is grappling with an economic downturn, but there is more than the usual amount of disagreement about how fast it's slowing down. The battle is not between the usual bulls and bears. The most interesting split this time is between those who...
Is China Slowing Down?
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
With problems in the manufacturing, housing, and export sectors in China, we will likely see slower gross domestic product growth for the world’s second largest economy in 2012. China’s leadership is changing for the first time in a decade, and...
How Large is China’s Economy? Does it Matter?
Congressional Research Service
China’s rapid economic growth since 1979 has transformed it into a major economic power. Over the past few years, many analysts have contended that China could soon overtake the United States to become the world’s largest economy, based on...
Exchange Rate and Monetary Policy in China
Cato Institute
China's account surplus has increased sharply as a product of economic growth and manipulation of its undervalued currency. This paper argues that China's account surplus is actually higher than reports indicate. China’s monetary authorities need...