C H I N A
The country's economy has hit a wall, ending the longest running boom in history.
Since the Party embraced western style market economic policies in the late 1970s, China
has doubled the size of its economy every decade. Some 800 million Chinese have been
lifted out of poverty. But China grew its gdp at 3 percent last year--dropping from 7.4
percent a decade earlier. It's partly a consequence of Xi's three-year "zero Covid"
policy. There is a housing bubble in China, threatening the savings of millions of Chinese
who invested in the real estate market.
On top of its economic woes, Beijing is contending with a demographic crisis that
will have major implications for future growth. China this year recorded its first population
drop since 1961; the U.N. estimates the country's population will shrink from 1.4 billion
today to less than 800 million by 2100. That fall is largely a result of the one-child policy
introduced by the Communist Party in the late 1970s to regulate population growth. China's
population is graying as well as shrinking.This could strain health and pension systems.
Many rich western countries are facing similar demographic problem, but China is unique
in that it has become older before it has become rich.
[ From "the week", September 29, 2023 issue ]
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