China’s population is shrinking and its economy is losing ground
The “peak China” narrative is proving difficult to shift
![An elderly person walks in a hutong near an office complex in Beijing, China](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/media-assets/image/20240120_FNP504.jpg)
“HOW SHOULD one look at the Chinese economy?”, asked Li Qiang, the country’s prime minister, at the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 16th. “It is similar to looking at the Alps,” he suggested, an “undulating mountain range” that is best appreciated from afar. Official figures released the next day revealed two notable undulations in China’s economic landscape. The country’s population fell in 2023 for the second year running. And its GDP shrank in dollar terms.
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Double dip”
Finance & economics January 20th 2024
- How strong is India’s economy under Narendra Modi?
- Ted Pick takes charge of Morgan Stanley
- Australian houses are less affordable than they have been in decades
- China’s population is shrinking and its economy is losing ground
- Wall Street is praying firms will start going public again
- The Middle East faces economic chaos
- What economists have learnt from the post-pandemic business cycle
- The countries which raised rates first are now cutting them
More from Finance & economics
![](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/media-assets/image/20250215_FNP002.jpg)
Cheap solar power is sending electrical grids into a death spiral
Pakistan and South Africa provide a warning for other countries
![](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/media-assets/image/20250215_FNP502.jpg)
Russian inflation is too high. Does that matter?
In a strong economy, price pressure can endure for a long time
![](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/media-assets/image/20250215_FND001.jpg)
Why you should repay your mortgage early
For the first time in decades, the arithmetic suggests settling housing loans
How AI will divide the best from the rest
Optimists hope the technology will be a great equaliser. Instead, it looks likely to widen social divides
The danger of relying on OpenAI’s Deep Research
Economists are in raptures, but they should be careful
Elon Musk is failing to cut American spending
DOGE has so far disrupted everything in government bar the deficit