China Economics Update Is China attempting the impossible? China is targeting average annual growth of at least 6.5% over the coming five years. Such rapid growth, which would place China in the top 10% of what has been achieved historically by other... 31st March 2016 · 1 min read
China Economics Update What would convince us we’re wrong on China? If the economy doesn’t show signs of a turnaround in coming months, we would have to downgrade our relatively upbeat view of China’s economic prospects. But we would need to see evidence of clear... 1st February 2016 · 1 min read
China Economics Update China, growth star Markets appear convinced that China is in the midst of an economic crisis. Yet even on the basis of our relatively downbeat measure of China’s growth, it remains one of the world’s fastest-growing... 25th January 2016 · 1 min read
China Economics Update Further signs that the economy is turning a corner China’s activity data for November provide further evidence that policy easing has helped to stabilise the economy. We continue to expect conditions to improve over the coming months. 14th December 2015 · 1 min read
China Economics Focus What should we expect from China’s new Five-Year Plan? China’s leadership is likely to use its forthcoming Five-Year Plan to signal that it is not wavering on the need for structural reform. In fact, progress over the first three years of President Xi's... 22nd October 2015 · 1 min read
China Economics Update Official GDP data set to remain political tool We shouldn’t expect China to have a statistical system as robust as those in the developed world. But the problems in China go beyond those normally found in an emerging economy. The biggest is that... 16th October 2015 · 1 min read
China Economics Update Revised GDP data as open to question as before China’s statistics bureau last week announced changes to how its GDP figures are compiled. In principle, the shift should improve the precision of the data. In practice, the changes to historical real... 16th September 2015 · 1 min read
India Economics Focus Can India capitalise on its demographic dividend? The UN’s projection that India will become the world’s most populous nation as soon as 2022 has refocused attention on the country’s remarkable demographic potential and the impact this could have on... 27th August 2015 · 1 min read
China Economics Update Longstanding error still exaggerating GDP growth China’s statistics bureau responded today to our argument that glitches in the way it calculates GDP have caused it to overstate growth in recent quarters. It has not laid our doubts to rest. 15th July 2015 · 1 min read
China Economics Focus China’s impact on the world Structural changes in China’s economy are transforming its economic relationship with the rest of the world, as domestic demand shifts from investment to consumption, outbound tourism surges and the... 7th July 2015 · 1 min read
China Economics Update More evidence GDP growth overstated Flaws in how China’s GDP data are calculated exaggerated both the downward pressure on prices in the first quarter and the rate at which the economy is growing. 4th June 2015 · 1 min read
China Economics Update China's GDP set for statistical boost The government is tomorrow likely to announce an upward revision of perhaps 5~10% to its estimate of the size of China’s economy. Nothing will have changed on the ground, but the data revisions will... 15th December 2014 · 1 min read
China Economics Update FX reserves are no magic bullet in a debt crisis The foreign exchange reserves of the People’s Bank would be of little use in the event of a debt or banking crisis in China. The bulk of the costs of any clean-up would ultimately still be paid by the... 25th June 2014 · 1 min read
China Economics Focus A Chinese hard landing: Which Asian countries are most at risk? A hard landing in China’s economy is one of the biggest risks clouding the outlook for the rest of Emerging Asia. A slump in Chinese demand would hurt economies with close trade links to China, with... 15th April 2014 · 1 min read
China Economics Focus Is consumption being undercounted? A growing number of economists are challenging the view that China invests too much and consumes too little by arguing that the official data grossly understate consumption and overstate investment... 2nd April 2014 · 1 min read
China Economics Update Is slower growth here to stay? China’s economic slowdown is the result of policy tightening and weak global demand but it also reflects structural shifts in China’s economy. As a result, expectations for a strong and sustained... 27th September 2012 · 1 min read