This post is available in pdf format My Weekly Column – January 28th

Growth in China slowed again in 2018, with an average of 6.6% across the year vs. 6.9% in 2017.
This remains a respectable figure, but it is the lowest since 1989 and 1990 as shown in the chart opposite. The 10-year average is also at a low, at around 8%. The 10% that had previously been typical of the Chinese economy is now a thing of the past, and expectations of a shift back to this trend are unrealistic. The Chinese economy is changing, setting the stage for a slower pace of growth. 

A weighty challenge for the world as a whole
Slowing Chinese growth often sets off the warning bells on world growth as a whole. Having hinged on developed countries during the period after the Second World War, growth is now dependent on the situation in China, which has displayed exceptional expansion since the start of the 1990s, creating strong and long-lasting impetus for the world overall.

The world growth driver is now China, rather than developed markets, and this shift is particularly vital as potential growth in developed countries has been on the wane since 2008. Right across the globe, from the US to France, growth that can be sustained in the long term while not generating permanent imbalances is weaker than before the 2007 crisis, and none of these countries can drive strong and self-sustaining growth from within their borders. Meanwhile, China managed to fuel momentum, taking over the role of developed economies – particularly the US – and benefiting the entire world economy.

So China managed to set the stage for stronger growth the world over on a long-term basis, either by sparking fresh competition on the Western markets, developing relationships with other emerging countries (Asia, Africa, Latam) or attracting capital to take advantage of Chinese growth, even if the price to pay for this was the transfer of technology.

According to IMF data (in current dollars terms), Chinese GDP has gone from less than 2% of world GDP in 1991 to 6% ahead of the 2007 crisis and then 16% in 2018, reflecting an astounding acceleration and putting it on a par with the euro area.

Chinese GDP as measured in purchasing power parity – a more coherent price and exchange rate system than the dollar-denominated assessment – has been higher than the US figure since 2014 and above the euro area figure since 2011.

More generally speaking, an increase in the weighting of China was achieved primarily at the expense of Europe and Japan, while the US maintained its strong representation. This also explains why the tension surrounding technological leadership is a Chinese-US matter and excludes Europe, which was not sufficiently involved in supporting China’s swift development.

A final point worth keeping in mind is that Chinese imports equated to close to 80% of US imports in 2017. A domestic Chinese shock affecting its imports would have a similar effect to a shock on US domestic demand and hence on its imports, and the worldwide impact of a shock on Chinese growth would be closer than many would expect to the effects of a shock on US growth.