Explore Business Standard
Associate Sponsors
Co-sponsor
China Economic Growth
China's progress in building a modern economy, evident in its kung-fu fighting robots and self-parking cars, is hitting limits as a downturn in its housing industry drags on, small businesses suffer and young people struggle to find jobs. The gap between Chinese leader Xi Jinping's high-tech, artificial intelligence-driven ambitions and the hard realities of slowing growth is the backdrop for the annual meeting of the country's largely ceremonial national legislature, the National People's Congress, which begins Thursday. During the meetings, which draw about 3,000 deputies to Beijing, top leaders will outline China's annual target for growth and the congress will endorse a five-year blueprint of policy priorities until 2030. "What we'll see is the trade-off between whether it's going to be industry and tech, or looking after domestic demand," said Alexander Davey, an analyst at the Mercator Institute for China Studies. "These are the two priorities that are juggling for Xi Jinping
The "Life in Venice" housing development, a multibillion-dollar replica of the Italian city on the Chinese coast, stands silent. Many of the tens of thousands of homes are hollow husks of concrete and alabaster. But in recent years the remote, partially abandoned complex has drawn unlikely new residents like Sasa Chen, a burned-out young Chinese woman who until recently worked a high-earning finance job in Shanghai, China's bustling commerce hub. The appeal? Chen pays just 1200 RMB, or USD 168, a month for her apartment in faux Venice in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu. It's so cheap that it's allowed Chen to retire at the tender age of 28. Experts say Chen is part of a broader trend that has seen a growing number of young people across China migrating to small towns and cities, taking advantage of cheap real estate prices that have been plummeting since the COVID pandemic. It's a stark reversal from previous generations that prised upward mobility. In decades past, China'
US businesses are more concerned about China's slowing economy than trade friction, according to a survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in China released Friday. Of 368 companies responding to the survey, 64% viewed slowing growth in the world's second largest economy as their top worry, while 58% cited US-China trade tensions as a key challenge. One reason for that may be that many US companies have businesses focused on China's huge market of about 1.4 billion people that do not rely on exports back to the US Economists expect China's economy to slow further this year after expanding at about a 5% annual pace in 2025. Growth in exports outpaced imports last year, leading to a record trade surplus of nearly $1.2 trillion. The report said business sentiment has improved from last year. More than half of those responding estimated that they made a profit in 2025, up from less than half last year. It has been a rocky ride for American businesses in recent years, especially aft
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday hailed his country's technological progress in areas such as artificial intelligence and semiconductors while once again insisting his country would annex self-ruled Taiwan. During his New Year's Eve address broadcast Wednesday evening by state media, Xi praised the country's advancements in key sectors including military tech and space exploration. Images ranging from humanoid robots performing kung fu to new hydropower projects rolled on the screen as he spoke. We sought to energize high-quality development through innovation, Xi said while thanking Chinese people for contributing to the country's economic growth over the past five years. China plans its economic development over periods of five years and is preparing to discuss its new five-year plan at the upcoming legislative session in March. The country is set to speed up self-reliance in science and technology as the United States imposes increasingly tight controls on access to ...