2024-11-19
5 分钟The Economist. Hi, it's Alice Su here.
I co-host Drum Tower, our weekly podcast on China.
Here's an article handpicked from the latest edition of The Economist, read out loud.
I thought you might enjoy it.
Zhou Enlai, who was China's first Communist Prime Minister,
was once asked what he thought of the French Revolution.
Too early to say, he replied.
His priceless answer was based on a misunderstanding.
He was referring to the student unrest in Paris in 1968, only four years earlier.
But his words helped cement the reputation of China's leaders for farsightedness.
This long-termism may be to blame for China's unhurried response to its urgent economic woes.
Its property market, which peaked in 2021, is still fragile.
Consumer confidence, shattered by the Covid-19 lockdowns in 2022, has never recovered.
The consequences include lackluster spending,
dwindling fiscal revenues, and deflationary pressure.
Figures released on November 9th show factory gate prices falling year on year for the 25th month in a row.
In September,
China's leaders acknowledged these new problems and promised a more forceful response.
Hopes rose for a bold fiscal stimulus that would provide handouts to consumers and mobilize more public money to revive interest in property.
But a flurry of subsequent press conferences from the Planning Agency,