Asian AngleAs global economies recover from impact of Covid-19, is it time for China’s day in the sun?
- Fresh confidence is abound in China with the easing of Covid restrictions, amid an ‘age of high mass consumption’ led by technology
- The reality of China is in stark contrast to the China that is thought and spoken about outside the country
Stuck in a massive traffic jam in Beijing last Sunday, it was hard not to think that the reality of China and the place it is thought to be from abroad are parallel universes.
The China with burgeoning middle-class consumption, a decade of 5 per cent-plus economic growth, the biggest market for all East Asia and Oceania, and the pivotal point for global supply chains, is unrecognisable from the China with Covid-19, severe economic disruption, an imploding property sector, and local governments mired in debt.
The “China Collapse” propagators have always thrived on wishful thinking, but as the United States moves more decisively towards containing China and whistles up a posse of allies to help the cause, it could lead to dangerous strategic miscalculation.
After a 17-month absence during the pandemic, China is not going anywhere except to become stronger and more powerful. Travelling in Shandong province, population 102 million, and then by high-speed rail to Beijing at 305 kilometres/hour, it seemed that the Chinese economy was resurging. Vast construction sites were populated by dozens of cranes, new high-speed rail lines were going up and eight-lane highways were being rolled out.