China Economic Growth

Births in China fell to a record low in 2025 despite subsidies and policy shifts, as young Chinese delay marriage and parenthood amid high costs, job uncertainty and long working hours

The world's second-largest economy expanded 4.5 per cent last quarter from a year earlier, the slowest pace since the reopening from Covid lockdowns in late 2022

Thanks to fresh progress in sectors from commercial rockets to robotics and flying cars, Chinese tech shares have begun the new year with a bang

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

Despite a global backlash, Chinese companies aggressively sought out customers in other markets when shipments to the US plunged after President Donald Trump hiked tariffs

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 ...

Still, the data should give policymakers cause for optimism after choosing to see out 2025 without major additional stimulus to meet the full-year growth target of around 5 per cent

The official manufacturing purchasing managers' index rose to 50.1 from 49.2 last month, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics

Today's Best of BS Opinion looks at India's evolving trade strategy, rising tensions with Bangladesh, lessons from China's manufacturing boom, food loss challenges, and the impact of digital platforms

An unambitious elite spoiled by finance - plus a working class held back by inadequate education and inequities of caste and gender - are stymying the emergence of a global middle class in India

Today's opinion pieces offer a sharp mix of macro and culture: China's demand shortfall, Prada's Kolhapuri move, the rupee's policy trilemma, why RBI needs better data, and a candid chess memoir.

China's global goods surplus has surged past $1 trillion, driven by booming auto and battery exports, and a competitive edge from weak domestic demand and currency dynamics

The official manufacturing purchasing managers' index was 49.2, remaining below the 50 mark that separates growth and contraction for an eighth month

Top government and Communist Party officials regularly state that they're committed to lifting domestic spending - something the US and other major trading partners have also long demanded

To meet official lending targets, many Chinese banks are resorting to instant loan tactics where clients take out loans briefly and repay them soon after, masking low credit demand

China is using American pressure as a catalyst to accelerate domestic innovation, by pumping money into its local firms

China's economic growth slowed to its weakest in a year in the third quarter, and the youth unemployment rate remained elevated despite a dip in September

China's exports contracted in October, hit by a 25% drop in shipments to the United States, the government reported Friday. Persisting trade tensions with Washington may get a respite in the final quarter of the year after President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed last week to de-escalate the trade war between the two largest economies. But trade friction still appears to be casting a pall on demand elsewhere. Customs data show a 1.1% drop in China's global exports in October compared to a year earlier, the weakest since February, following an 8.3% increase in September. Imports rose 1% last month from the year before, compared with 7.4% growth in September. China's shipments to the US have already fallen by double-digits for seven consecutive months, while it has diversified its export markets to regions such as Southeast Asia and Africa. The October decline also was affected by a high base for the same month in 2024, when exports growth soared more than 12.6%,

On the price side, the divergence of rising raw material prices and falling finished goods prices remains, keeping corporate profit margins under pressure

China's ageing crisis and overburdened hospitals have given rise to a new service industry of paid companions who assist elderly patients through daunting medical routines