BEIJING — The start of 2024 has been marked by a wave of increasingly pessimistic forecasts for China’s economy.

BEIJING — Before Deng Xiaoping launched China’s reform and opening up, the People’s Republic was working to establish a self-sufficient economy.

BEIJING — According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, the economy grew by 4.5 per cent year on year in the first quarter of 2023. While that hardly matches the robust growth of the pre-pandemic period, it did exceed market expectations.

BEIJING — In March 2022, the Chinese government set a target of 5-5.5 per cent GDP growth for the year. At the time, such growth levels appeared perfectly attainable.

BEIJING — The renminbi’s value used to feature heavily in debates about global imbalances. While outsiders considered it to be undervalued and urged appreciation, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) insisted on maintaining the currency’s de facto peg to the US dollar.

BEIJING — On July 2, 1997, the Thai baht collapsed. After waves of speculative attacks, the government had run out of foreign currency and become unable to support its exchange-rate peg to the US dollar. So, it floated the baht, which went into freefall.

BEIJING  —  In 2004, everyone started talking about global imbalances.

BEIJING — In The Economic Weapon: The Rise of Sanctions as a Tool of Modern War, historian Nicholas Mulder reminds us that even when Britain and Russia were savagely battling each other during the 1853-56 Crimean War, they continued to service their debts to each other.

BEIJING  —  Despite strong global economic headwinds, not least from the COVID-19 pandemic, China managed to achieve 8.1 per cent GDP growth last year, its highest rate in a decade.