"China’s COVID-19 Comeback Rides On The Strength Of Chinese Households" - By CWP Alum Zongyuan Zoe Liu

Earlier this month, China released its economic data for the year 2022, revealing that the nation’s GDP had grown by only 3 percent, falling short of the government’s 5.5 percent growth target. The underperformance was attributed largely to the government’s strict COVID policies, which led to lockdowns and halted economic activity in major cities during the spring and summer. These policies sparked widespread protests in November, as citizens expressed frustration with the economic harm and social disruption caused by these policies. In response, the government changed course and by the end of December had relaxed several restrictions on movement, such as the requirement to show a negative virus test or scan a green health code before traveling to a different city. For many Chinese households, 2022 was a challenging year that tested their resilience and left them in a bit of an economic hole. Just how quickly Chinese households can climb out from that hole is critical to whether China’s economy can rebound and hit the current forecast of 5.1 percent growth in 2023, a key assumption to higher growth forecasts in the rest of the global economy. Using the latest data, we visualize the economic situation of Chinese households. In four charts, we describe the challenges to China’s economic recovery from COVID-19 presented by Chinese households.

Blog Post by Zongyuan Zoe Liu and Daniel Stemp - January 30, 2023 2:16 pm (EST) - https://www.cfr.org/blog/chinas-covid-19-comeback-rides-strength-chinese-households?amp&source=gmail&ust=1675271295304000&usg=AOvVaw1kRYkTRlSvs-FjvPpT0_6S

Zongyuan Zoe Liu is a fellow for international political economy at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). Her work focuses on international political economy, global financial markets, sovereign wealth funds, supply chains of critical minerals, development finance, emerging markets, energy and climate change policy, and East Asia-Middle East relations. Dr. Liu’s regional expertise is in East Asia, specifically China and Japan, and the Middle East, specifically Gulf Cooperation Council countries. Dr. Liu is the author of Can BRICS De-dollarize the Global Financial System? (Cambridge University Press) and Sovereign Funds: How the Communist Party of China Finances its Global Ambitions (Harvard University Press, forthcoming 2023).

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