Uptrend
China’s economy was one of the big winners coming out of the pandemic. China, using its deep-reaching influence as a communist state, was able to contain the pandemic very quickly through mass lockdowns – opening the gates for a quick, smooth economic recovery. In addition to this China has accepted an economic free market, launching the country into immense growth and wealth. Indeed, the Chinese economy is on track to outperform the US economy itself. In recent months COVID has made a comeback in China, forcing many of its largest cities into intense lockdowns.
Of late, China has seen a mixed bag of results. On the positive side, they’ve seen major first-quarter GDP growth in spite of the new wave of lockdowns in parts of the country during March. According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics Monday China’s’ first-quarter GDP rose by 4.8%, topping expectations of a 4.4% increase from a year ago. Despite this growth, one of the major issues China continues to face is a growing rate of unemployment. Across 31 major Chinese cities, unemployment rose 5.4% in February and an even larger 6% in March. This number is by far the highest on record according to official data going back to 2018. In real estate, China has also seen double-digit declines in the floor space and total sales of commercial buildings sold. What do you think about China’s current state? And will a full recovery from COVID without more and more lockdowns ever happen?
I am not a financial advisor and my comments should never be taken as financial advice. Investments come with risk, so always do your research and analysis beforehand.
