China is showing signs of a significant economic slowdown after decades of supercharged growth. A much anticipated post-pandemic recovery appears to have flopped, with data flashing warning signs across the economy.
This time, the government’s traditional tools for reversing course may not be viable options. The country must come to grips with how to manage a shaky property sector, sluggish consumer spending and towering local debt.
In the Bloomberg Originals mini-documentary China’s Great Slowdown, we explore the reality behind promises by President Xi Jinping and other top Communist Party leaders to revive the world’s second-largest economy. They pledged more support for the troubled real estate market and to help boost consumption. But they have so far stopped short of announcing any large-scale stimulus.
Whether Beijing manages to turn things around, however, is not just China’s problem. The International Monetary Fund expects the nation to contribute just over 30% of global growth this year. If that momentum begins to falter, the impact will reverberate across the globe.
