Daniel Moss, Columnist

How China's Economy Grows Even as Credit Tightens

The big story is the rise of services and consumption, replacing manufacturing as the key sector.

China's economy has changed.

Photographer: Gilles Sabri/Bloomberg

China is serious about weaning itself from debt and even more serious about keeping its economy stable.

Achieving these goals might seem like a contradiction, given that unwinding a credit binge tends to restrict economic activity, at least in the short term. And if the skirmish between the U.S. and China on trade does degenerate into a war, then pumping a bit more money into the economy doesn't seem like a terrible option. It's hard to imagine a huge Chinese fiscal leap like the one undertaken in 2008 during the global finance crisis.