China’s Xi May Soon Learn You Can’t Eat Statistics
Beijing’s leader wants China’s economy to expand faster than the U.S., despite Covid lockdowns. Thanks to global inflation, it’s an easy task.
China’s industrial production is keeping the economy growing amid widespread Covid lockdowns.
Photographer: China News Service/China News ServicePresident Xi Jinping has told senior officials to ensure that China’s gross domestic product growth outpaces the U.S.’s this year. He’s determined to show that his one-party system is superior to Western democracy, and that the U.S. is in decline, reported the Wall Street Journal.
At first read, this news is simultaneously amusing and hopeful to investors. More than 340 million people in regions that contribute to about 35% of China’s GDP are limited by some form of Covid-related lockdowns, according to estimates by Nomura Securities. In March — even before the lockdown in Shanghai — urban unemployment hit 6%, the highest since at least 2014. Meanwhile, U.S. consumer confidence remains strong.