China’s economic slowdown: what it means for Beijing and the world

The FT’s Martin Wolf, James Kynge, Sun Yu and UBS chief Asia and China economist Tao Wang assessed the implications of China’s economic slowdown at a webinar for FT subscribers on September 21 2023.

China was forecast to contribute 35 per cent of global GDP growth in 2023 — much more than any other country. But a rush of figures over the summer revealed a structural slowdown. With relatively weak consumer spending, an anaemic private sector, and spiralling youth unemployment, local governments are severely short of capital and the property market has tanked.

Moderated by Geoff Dyer, a former China correspondent and now the FT’s longform editor, the webinar sought answers to the following questions:

• Are  China’s days as a locomotive to the global economy ending? 

• To what extent is Beijing’s preoccupation with security a contributing factor in its economic malaise? 

• Are US-led tech curbs having an impact on growth? 

• And what does a Chinese slowdown mean for global business and investment?