With both Iran and Venezuela out of the shipping-cheap-oil-to-China business (~20% of China's usage), at least for a while, President Xi has another headwind to overcome.
From the Associated Press, March 2:
China’s progress in building a modern economy, evident in its kung-fu fighting robots and self-parking cars, is hitting limits as a downturn in its housing industry drags on, small businesses suffer and young people struggle to find jobs.
The gap between Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s high-tech, artificial intelligence-driven ambitions and the hard realities of slowing growth is the backdrop for the annual meeting of the country’s largely ceremonial national legislature, the National People’s Congress, which begins Thursday.
During the meetings, which draw about 3,000 deputies to Beijing, top leaders will outline China’s annual target for growth and the congress will endorse a five-year blueprint of policy priorities until 2030.
“What we’ll see is the trade-off between whether it’s going to be industry and tech, or looking after domestic demand,” said Alexander Davey, an analyst at the Mercator Institute for China Studies. “These are the two priorities that are juggling for Xi Jinping right now.”
China’s economy is losing momentum
In a city in southern China’s Guangdong, families were cutting back on big purchases during last month’s Lunar New Year holidays. Even for auspicious houseplants like orchids, used as a symbol of abundance and prosperity, prices were slashed by as much as 40% from last year.The penny pinching has small business owners complaining about hard times.
China reported it reached “around 5%” economic growth in 2025, but economists question some official data.
The relatively robust pace of growth was supported by strong manufacturing as exports surged, despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff hikes and other disruptions to trade.
“Hitting the 2025 growth target is hardly reassuring as the Chinese economy is losing growth momentum, with rising imbalances and enormous structural problems being papered over by a surge in export-driven growth,” Eswar Prasad, a professor of economics and trade policy at Cornell University, told The Associated Press in emailed comments.
Property slump persists...
....MUCH MORE
The oil situation might be good for Russia though. Putin needs something, he's looking around the world and wondering "What the hell is going on?"
As they teach you in your "Intro to Ecology" class: Everything is connected.
