[ad_1]
In China, the crown crisis has been largely overcome, the economy is growing again, and it is benefiting from the export boom. But many old problems remain unsolved.
By Steffen Wurzel, ARD-Studio Shanghai
The Chinese economy continues to recover. Industrial production rose seven percent in November compared to the same month last year, as figures from the Chinese statistics agency show. In the retail sector, the advantage is five percent. Both numbers correspond to what international economists expected.
“China is one of the few major economies in the world that will grow this year,” said Fu Linghui, a spokesman for the Chinese statistics agency. In fact, economic experts expect an increase of around two percent in China’s gross domestic product.
China benefits from the need for masks and protective clothing
For comparison: the euro zone will likely end this year eight percent lower. Germany’s economic output will decline by about five percent, that of the United States by about four percent.
The fact that China’s economy can grow in the same period means purely statistically: China’s share of the global economy is now growing even faster than expected before the start of the Corona crisis.
The fact that China is doing so well economically in terms of numbers is partly due to the export boom. In November, Chinese companies were able to increase their exports by an impressive 21.1 percent compared to the previous year. Chinese companies benefit most from global demand for corona protective clothing and masks. And: because many more people around the world have to work from home than usual due to Covid-19, the execution on Chinese laptops, computer accessories and communication technology continues unabated. This trend is not known to change anytime soon. Recently, the Christmas business in Europe and the US gave an additional boost.
Containers are stacked in ports
“Currently, Chinese companies are intervening where exporters from other countries fail, for example due to global lockdowns,” says Alicia García-Herrero, chief economist responsible for the Asia-Pacific region at the French investment bank Natixis in Hong Kong. . “So Chinese companies are gaining additional market share. That offers real opportunities for the Chinese economy.”
China’s exports are currently booming to such an extent that freight forwarders can barely keep up with shipping goods around the world. Containers are now piling up in major Chinese ports such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Tianjin.
Hostility towards the country of origin Corona
The fact that the country of origin of the Covid 19 pandemic is recovering even more economically than before also has political consequences. In an interview with the economist García-Herrero, he speaks of frank hostility towards China ARD– Radio. The world is now much more aware of the challenge China faces than before.
Other economic experts point out something else regarding China’s economy: namely, that the Chinese economy is currently performing so well because the state is spending huge amounts of money. Since the beginning of the crown crisis, China’s communist leadership has invested billions of euros in new roads, ports, bridges and industrial parks. Numerous new coal-fired power plants have also been approved. Despite all the promises of climate protection.
Investments in the public sector
All of this is driving up China’s gross domestic product. But none of this is healthy, says Michael Pettis, a professor of economics at Peking University. “The Covid-19 crisis has seriously damaged the ‘healthy’ areas of the Chinese economy,” he says. National consumption and investment have decreased. “To keep economic growth high, the government has invested money in the ‘unhealthy’ areas of the economy, that is, in the public sector.”
The fact that the state is stimulating the economy with borrowed money does not change the basic problems of the Chinese economy: domestic consumption is not as good as it should be. Chinese companies also continue to struggle with productivity and sustainability.
