Economy

While still reeling from the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, Shanghai has loosened its regulations on the street stall economy. Some believe that the move will breathe life back into the stalled city, while others think it is a stopgap that will do little to help its domestic economy bounce back. Zaobao correspondent Chen Jing tells us more.

Recent news of a large-scale housing project acquisition by a state-owned enterprise (SOE) has gained widespread attention. While some are welcoming the government’s efforts to revive the sluggish property market, others are wary of profiteering and corruption opportunities. Zaobao correspondent Chen Jing takes a look at the implications of the SOE’s move and whether China’s property market will finally look up.

The belief that immigrants would ruin the employment market is unfounded, says economics professor Li Jingkui. With bold and ambitious entrepreneurial spirits, immigrants are more likely to be “job creators”, rather than “job takers”, while the resulting increase in demand for goods and services even supports economic growth.

Academic Naoise McDonagh asserts that a key question posed by China’s rise is whether the liberal international order can remain rules-based, when its second largest member is a socialist market economy operating on different rules that it increasingly seeks to apply externally.

While there are risks involved in pursuing deeper cooperation with Taiwan beyond trade and economics, ASEAN should not shy away from exploring possibilities even while abiding by the "one China" policy. This is where greater trade cooperation and city-to-city linkages could come in.

Amid the difficulties in analysing and forecasting macroeconomic conditions, economist Chen Kang likens their changes to a unique game of tug of war between the bulls and the bears — in which economic reforms, policies and outcomes are interpreted differently among the players, and the current outcome encapsulates the people’s aggregate response. However, the big question is whether China will press on with economic reforms despite all the challenges. This is the third in a five-part series of articles on the future of China.

The BRI’s implementation will be slowing down as a result of multiple factors ranging from the global Covid-19 pandemic, the shift in the global geostrategic environment and the Chinese economic slowdown. As it changes its model to suit change, it could focus more on sustainable financing for BRI countries and lower the long-term financial impacts of loans for infrastructure projects. It could also pursue “third-party market cooperation” as a flexible approach in its pursuit of cooperation with other countries under the BRI umbrella. This is the second in a five-part series of articles on the future of China.

East Asian Institute academic Yu Hong analyses the G7’s Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, an update from the earlier Build Back Better World Initiative. With the aim of mobilising up to US$600 billion over the next five years, it is a much more robust effort to counter China’s BRI. But will such heft be enough? This is the first in a five-part series of articles on the future of China.

With the impending 20th Party Congress in less than two months, Chinese authorities are stepping up their efforts to control the spread of Covid-19, with fresh lockdowns in China’s megacities over the past few days. Zaobao associate editor Han Yong Hong notes that despite calls to stabilise the economy, anti-epidemic efforts seem to take precedence, and are not likely to be eased even after the congress.