China’s relentless quest for growth is a toxic feedback loop of its own making

One cardinal fact governs the world economy today. China produces 31 per cent of global manufactured goods: it accounts for 13 per cent of total consumption. The rest of us must absorb China’s increasing excess capacity. If the country is to meet the Communist Party’s growth target of 5 per cent over the next decade with the current hyper-investment model, it can do so only by eating further into the industrial core of Europe, America and India. Chinese President Xi Jinping. Credit: AP “Other major economies must be willing to reduce investment and manufacturing shares to accommodate China. Needless to say, this is very unlikely,”…