China’s economic recovery is weakening. The latest numbers suggest sequential gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 0.8 per cent, though year-on-year numbers are better because of the base effect. Annual growth rates have slowed down from over 9 per cent on average between 2000 and 2019 to around 3 per cent in 2022 (chart 1).
The country has previously depended on debt-fuelled infrastructure spending to power growth. Indebtedness weighs heavier when growth slows down. China’s general government gross debt is expected