China's Long Economic Slowdown

ABSTRACT: The China boom has ended. The country's annual economic growth rate has decelerated from a height of more than 14 percent in 2007 to less than 6 percent in 2023. Total indebtedness (including both internal and external debt) surpassed an alarming 365 percent of GDP as of the first quarter of 2024, according to the Institute of International Finance—much higher than comparable middle-income countries like Brazil (208 percent), Argentina (152 percent), and Indonesia (86 percent). The collapse or near-collapse of real estate giants like Evergrande, which just a few years ago was the poster child for China's economic miracle, is just one example of the country's economic difficulties.