Hardly anyone in China wants to talk about COVID-19 or the zero-COVID policy that the authorities stubbornly pursued throughout most of the pandemic. Zero COVID was abruptly abandoned at the end of 2022, causing more than an estimated million deaths in the subsequent months. The authorities then brazenly declared in March 2023 that the country’s … Read more
Advertisement There is very little doubt that the Chinese economy is currently in dire straits. Not only have property prices fallen for two years now, but there are also concerns about the economy entering a period of deflation (or persistently falling prices). A deflationary spiral works in the same way as an inflationary one, except … Read more
Advertisement While China’s zero COVID campaign has become part of the unmentioned past for many people both inside and outside China, we shouldn’t downplay its significance. The zero COVID effort marked the first political campaign that involved the participation of practically every Chinese citizen since the end of the Cultural Revolution. Therefore, understanding the implications … Read more