China’s Economic Slowdown Is the Price of Tackling Long-Term Risk

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GDP data released Monday by China’s National Bureau of Statistics confirmed that the country’s economic recovery from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic is losing steam. The Chinese economy grew by just 4.9 percent in the third quarter of 2021, compared with the same quarter last year. Although some slowdown was expected, the slump was steeper than the bearish predictions by analysts, who have subsequently downgraded their overall forecasts in recent weeks. The third quarter figure was also a significant drop from the previous quarter’s 7.9 percent growth rate, to say nothing of the blistering 18.3 percent in the first quarter of this year.  ...