China | Debt, deficits and depressed consumers

Does China have the fiscal firepower to rescue its economy?

There is a fierce debate over whether it can afford to keep spending

Workers work at a construction site in Shanghai
Photograph: Reuters
|HONG KONG

MAASTRICHT IS A small Dutch city that casts a big economic shadow. European leaders gathered there in 1992 to sign the treaty that led to the euro. Serenaded by a marching band, they vowed to keep their budget deficits below 3% of GDP and their government debt below 60%.

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This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “Can China afford to keep spending?”

From the January 11th 2025 edition

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