A different kind of China: how the superpower seems unable to steady itself

For the past few decades, one of the great world stories has been the seemingly unstoppable rise of China. Dhaval Joshi of BCA Research calculates that China generated a staggering 41 per cent of the world’s growth in the past 10 years, almost double the 22 per cent contribution from the US and swamping the eurozone’s 9 per cent. “Put another way, of the 2.6 per cent real growth rate of the world economy through the past 10 years, China has generated 1.1 percentage points, while the US and euro area have generated just 0.6 points and 0.2 points respectively.” China’s economy has been consistently growing at the rate of 8-9 per cent a year, far ahead of anywhere else. Today, China’s contribution to global growth is faltering, down to 0.5 per cent. Some economists say China’s growth could slip further still to 2 per cent, to precisely the sort of humdrum levels experienced by the US and others.