China's annual session opens amidst trade war and economic uncertainty

Pressure is mounting on Chinese policymakers to implement measures that put more money in consumers’ wallets while reducing the world’s second-largest economy’s reliance on exports and investment for development Chinese President Xi Jinping walks out at the end of the opening session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China. An escalating trade war with the United States, led by President Donald Trump, is threatening to crimp China’s economic jewel, its sprawling industrial complex, at a time when persistently low household demand and the unravelling of the debt-laden property sector are making the economy more vulnerable. “With deflationary pressures becoming entrenched against the background of an unfavourable external environment … boosting domestic household consumption demand is a key priority,” said Eswar Prasad, trade policy professor at Cornell University and a former China director at the International Monetary Fund. “One-off schemes might help at the margin, but durable measures to provide income support and strengthen the safety net are essential.” China’s 5% growth rate last year was among the world’s fastest, but it was hardly felt at street level.