It’s not the Chinese economy that’s on life support

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Much of the financial news during the embers of summer in late August centred on the stock market runs that appeared to have their genesis in China – Shanghai and Shenzhen saw their composite values decline rapidly and led to panic selling in Europe and the US. But the Chinese economy is so much more than that which is represented by the value of its fledgling stock markets, as this article argues. Yes it has its problems – chronic over-investment in infrastructure, excessive debt, an overheated property market and growing financial problems in local government – but these also mask the deeper structural shift that is taking place and which will ultimately lead to a fundamental change in the global economy.