Finance & economics | Manufacturing miracles

China’s better economic growth hides reasons to worry

The country’s leaders are too complacent about deflation

An employee works at a wind-turbine factory in Qingzhou, Shandong province, China
Photograph: Getty Images
|Hong Kong

When China’s leaders set an economic-growth target of “around” 5% for this year, the goal was widely agreed to be ambitious. Now the country looks increasingly likely to meet it. Several foreign banks have raised their forecasts. Data released on April 16th show the economy grew by 5.3% in the first quarter, compared with a year earlier—quicker than expected and faster than the target requires.

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This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Manufacturing miracles”

From the April 20th 2024 edition

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