Blaming Washington will not solve Beijing’s economic problems
Xi Jinping’s China has a serious money problem. It appears that Beijing has a cash shortfall of nearly $900 billion in decreased revenue because of tax refunds, weaker economic production and lost land sales revenue. China will have to borrow vast sums to cover the debt, but its ongoing COVID crisis will continue to undermine economic growth.
The International Monetary Fund has lowered its estimate of China’s GDP growth in 2022 to 4.4 percent. Other estimates project growth as low as 2 percent. Both estimates put China’s GDP growth considerably below Beijing’s official 5.5 percent target — and even further below China’s growth rates over the past several decades.
China still has a massive economy, second only to that of the United States. Nevertheless, heavy investment in state-owned enterprises, infrastructure and real estate mask the nature of the country’s growth. Those investments tend to be less than…
