Economic Reform
Economy
Deflation: Beijing’s blind spot or its strategy?
China’s deflation reflects both weak demand and deliberate industrial strategy. But the model depends on consumption eventually catching up, raising questions over sustainability and regional spillovers for Southeast Asia. Researcher Genevieve Donnellon-May explains.
Genevieve Donnellon-May
18 May 2026
History
How Singapore’s ‘chief architect’ helped shape reform in China
When Singapore’s former deputy prime minister Goh Keng Swee became an adviser to China in the 1980s, he brought more than policy know-how — he helped shape its reform era. Caixin Global journalists tell us how Goh’s quiet influence has left a lasting mark on both nations.
Caixin Global
07 Nov 2025
Economy
The fourth plenum and the future of China’s economy
As Beijing readies its 15th Five-Year Plan, the fourth plenum sets the tone for China’s next decade — a vision of growth fused with security and social equity. The goal: modernisation by 2035, not through disruption, but through disciplined reinvention. East Asian Institute senior research fellow Bo Chen explores the economic strategies in the communique.
Bo Chen
27 Oct 2025
Politics
Slow burn: China’s 15th Five-Year Plan and the art of endurance
Amid global uncertainty, Beijing’s 15th Five-Year Plan doesn’t promise a new miracle — but mastery through control. With AI, clean tech, and quiet confidence, China’s path is less about catching up to the West than outlasting it. Economist Alicia García Herrero offers her read.
Alicia García Herrero
24 Oct 2025
Politics
From AI to outer space: Inside China’s ambitious 15th Five-Year Plan
Beijing’s 15th Five-Year Plan puts “high-quality development” front and centre — fusing AI-driven industry, stronger domestic demand, and even ambitions to become a “spacefaring nation”. Can this new vision secure China’s next economic miracle? Lianhe Zaobao correspondents Sim Tze Wei and Yush Chau report from Beijing.
Sim Tze Wei, Yush Chau
24 Oct 2025
Economy
[Big read] With real estate’s heyday over, China hunts for its next growth engine
From a plot of land to a new home, it does not just involve China’s real estate sector alone, but an entire system. If a critical link in the system goes wrong, related parties would come under pressure. Lianhe Zaobao journalist Liu Sha takes a look at how the upstream and downstream real estate industrial chain has been affected by the sector’s slump.
Liu Sha
20 Aug 2025
Economy
When money isn’t enough: The limits of Beijing’s fiscal power
China retains moderate fiscal space — particularly at the central level — but the key challenge lies in how wisely, efficiently and transparently it can allocate these resources to navigate near-term and long-term challenges, argue AMRO economists Jae Young Lee and Dek Joe Sum.
Jae Young Lee, Dek Joe Sum
08 Aug 2025
Economy
Key challenges China’s next Five-Year Plan needs to tackle
As China maps out its 15th Five-Year Plan, the nation confronts global turbulence and domestic shifts with bold strategies. Aiming for socialist modernisation by 2035, the plan focuses on boosting domestic consumption, fostering innovation-led growth and addressing demographic changes.
Caixin Global
11 Jul 2025
Economy
The real winner of the tariff war
As the US seeks a “total reset” of China-US trade relations, China is at the critical juncture of industrial upgrading and economic transformation, with the success of its modernisation hanging in the balance, says academic Jianyong Yue.
Jianyong Yue
27 May 2025
Economy
Trade war wake-up call: Will China finally fix its economy?
Export-oriented manufacturing provinces in China, such as Guangdong and Zhejiang, have been hit especially hard by Trump’s reciprocal tariffs and the ever-escalating China-US trade war. EAI senior research fellow Yu Hong tells us more about how these provinces are coping with the hostile trade environment and how China can survive the trade war.
Yu Hong
24 Apr 2025
Economy
China plans fiscal overhaul to fix crisis in local government finance
Amid China’s slow post-pandemic economic recovery and local governments’ shrinking revenue from land sales, experts think that the urgency for reform is widely acknowledged, but the path forward is unclear. The biggest challenge is how to balance central oversight with local financial independence.
Caixin Global
14 Mar 2025
Economy
China’s local provinces and cities set ambitious 2025 growth targets
China’s major cities and provinces are setting growth targets for 2025 around 5%, auguring a similar figure for the national target this year. But are these targets achievable amid adverse domestic conditions and global uncertainty? Lianhe Zaobao associate editor Han Yong Hong discusses the issue.
Han Yong Hong
17 Jan 2025