China on Wednesday called its post-Covid economic recovery “torturous” but, according to Beijing, “the facts will prove wrong” for those in the West who believe the Asian giant is incapable of serving as an engine of global growth. These comments come after the publication in recent days of disappointing economic figures for the world’s second largest economy, which led to numerous articles in the press and a drop in world stock markets on Tuesday.
US President Joe Biden also ruled last week that China, of which the US is a rival, was “a time bomb”, citing in particular its economic slowdown.
“But we never backed down from problems, we took proactive steps to address them and the results have been or are being seen,” he said during a regular news conference.
record youth unemployment
Asked about critics who believe that China’s economic slowdown is incompatible with its role as the engine of the world economy, the spokesman estimated that growth, at 5.5% in the first half, remained strong.
Retail sales, a key indicator of consumption, rose 2.5% year-on-year in July, the National Bureau of Statistics (BNS) announced on Tuesday. A figure lower than that of June and below analysts’ expectations. Unemployment among 16-24 year olds has also reached record levels of more than 20%.
Activity has been penalized in recent months by the stumbling blocks of various developers with an astronomical over-indebtedness, by the drop in consumer confidence and by the global economic slowdown, which is weighing on demand for Chinese products and therefore activity .
Source: BFM TV
