Page 2 - China Economic Growth

China's $23.9 bn port push: How Beijing is reshaping global maritime trade

A new global report shows Beijing has financed hundreds of port projects across continents, expanding its role in maritime trade infrastructure

China sets low growth target of 4.5% to 5% for 2026 amid property slump

China has set an economic growth target of 4.5 per cent to 5 per cent for this year, a slight decrease in the face of a prolonged property slump and other headwinds and uncertainty abroad. The target was announced on Thursday in an annual report being presented by Premier Li Qiang at the opening session of this year's meeting of the National People's Congress. The report set the goal and added "while striving for better in practice." The target was lowered from about 5 per cent in each of the last three years. The economy grew 5 per cent last year. Setting a range of 4.5 per cent to 5 per cent gives the government more leeway to adjust policies this year.

China's factory activity worsens amid Lunar New Year holiday lull

The non-manufacturing measure of activity in construction and services increased slightly to 49.5, compared with a forecast of 49.7

China to unveil priorities for next 5 years at key annual political meeting

China's ceremonial legislature is set to meet Thursday, where it will unveil the country's policy direction and economic goals for the coming years. The meeting is held in Beijing, where the National People's Congress and its advisory body gather. The National People's Congress will ratify new laws decided by China's Communist Party leadership. While the nearly 3,000-member body technically votes, the vote is always almost unanimous. Also meeting is the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, an advisory body composed of elite members of Chinese society, from businessmen to athletes. They also include representatives from China's minority groups, but the body has little power on issues of public policy. The gathering of these two bodies is called the Two Sessions. The political meetings have changed under President Xi Jinping's rule, with tighter scripts and less scope for debate. "A long, long time ago, it was a venue for policy deliberation," and even controversial ..

China's growth ambitions face limits as its national congress meets

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

As China's economy slows, young people buy cheap homes to retire early

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'

China's key policy meeting puts tech, stimulus in focus for investors

At the weeklong gathering of the National People's Congress starting March 5, officials are expected to set a 2026 growth target of 4.5% to 5%, down from around 5% in recent years

Why are private equity firms struggling to exit their China investments

China's slowing economy and falling valuations have made exits harder for private equity firms, delaying capital returns and disrupting global investment cycles

China's manufacturing activity gauge expands for export-oriented firms

China has seen weakening momentum in the economy in recent months, with few signs policymakers intend to unleash major stimulus as they continue to battle risks tied to local government debt

China factory activity contracts in Jan, manufacturing PMI drops to 49.3

Sub-indexes of new orders and new export orders also saw declines, respectively down to 49.2 from 50.8 in December and 47.8 from 49.0 in December

China's birth rate hits record low: Why Chinese youth aren't having kids

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

China's economic momentum weakens despite meeting 5% growth goal

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

China's fresh tech surge powers stock rally despite fragile economic growth

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 firms worry more about China's economy than trade tensions: Survey

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

China's 2025 trade surplus hits record $1.2 trillion despite Trump tariffs

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

China's Xi hails nation's tech progress, renews pledge to take back Taiwan

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 ...

China's factory activity snaps record slump on festive stockpiling

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

China's factory activity rises in December, ending record 8-month slump

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

Best of BS Opinion: India must learn from China, support new entrants

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

Why China rose and India lost ground in the global middle-class map

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