Trade war and China's economic prospects

In the short to medium term, growth may suffer but Beijing can bounce back if it has coherent leadership

The world breathed a sigh of relief at the truce arrived at between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping in Buenos Aires on the sidelines of the recent G-20 summit, which appeared to prevent a further escalation of their ongoing tariff war. These expectations have been mostly belied as the focus has now shifted to domains where China has much less room for making concessions. These relate to the ambiguities inherent in the governance of ostensibly private Chinese companies, intellectual property and access to technology. The arrest of the chief financial officer of one of China’s