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China Growth

11
Dec

Will China Become the World’s Next Number One Economic Superpower?

As counter-intuitive as it may seem, let us start with a straightforward answer and then spend the rest of the article elaborating and nuancing. And that answer is a definite… “probably” (apologies in the advance for the corny humor). Right off the bat, it is worth pointing out that when the productive potential of over

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30
Oct

Social Tensions in China: Are Civil Unrest Scenarios Realistic?

Too many Western observers make the mistake of assuming that just because China is run in a manner they consider authoritarian, it is somehow immune to social tensions. This attitude is short-sighted at best because whether we are talking about authoritarian regimes where it seems those in charge have everything under strict control or let’s

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18
Oct

Medical Tourism in China: A Tale of Two Worlds

In a previous article, we have made it clear that China’s medical system (just like quite a few other sectors of the Chinese economy) is a textbook fragmentation case study. On the one hand, we have affluent regions (Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, etc.) with Western-level medical services and on the other hand, poorer regions of China

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16
Oct

The (Subpar) Medical System of China: Problems, Threats and Opportunities

The medical system represents yet another case study involving a service which hasn’t exactly managed to keep up (in a directly proportionate manner, that is) with China’s explosive multi-decade economic growth… at least, not in a homogeneous manner. Of course, as pretty much always, it is possible to “cheat” by cherry-picking examples from affluent regions

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23
Sep

China’s Top 12 Insurance Companies – A Brief Overview

In an earlier article, we have made it clear why insurance is one of the best-positioned industries in China for a wide range of reasons, from demographic ones (the elephant in the room, perhaps) to smaller-scale variables. Re-addressing this issue would not constitute a proper use of our (limited) time, so we will limit ourselves

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13
Sep

China’s Luxury Goods Market: Facts vs. Misconceptions

Misunderstandings abound when it comes to all things China-related. For example, through previous ChinaFund.com articles, we’ve highlighted many manufacturing-related ones, for example the (grossly outdated) idea that China can only put low-quality, low value-added products on the table. Similar outdated stereotypical thinking examples also pertain to the Chinese consumer. To put it differently, China has

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30
Aug

The (Economic) Future of China and That of the United States: A Few Long-Term Thoughts

When analyzing current China and US-related events, it is easy to succumb to the temptation of focusing exclusively on the past (historic trade volume patterns, GDP growth rates, etc.) and the present (describing whichever issue is currently “hot” or let’s say widely-debated), without giving enough thought to the future, especially longer-term considerations. As such, this

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14
Aug

China’s Wealthiest (?) Cities, Provinces and Autonomous Regions

It’s worth noting that from an administrative perspective, China has 22 provinces, 4 municipalities (Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Chongqing) and 5 so-called autonomous regions (Guangxi, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia and Tibet). We will leave its two special administrative regions aside (Hong Kong and Macau) and won’t even include Taiwan in this discussion because… let’s just

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11
Aug

China’s Quality of Life Statistics: Standard of Living vs. Nominal GDP

As pretty much any economist worth his salt can confirm, it’s relatively easy to find numbers which paint whichever picture you want to “pitch” or, in other words, I for one can easily come up with more than plausible fact-backed scenarios which paint a picture of glowing prosperity for China. However, I can just as

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06
Aug

The Top 7 Threats to China’s Economic Growth

Right off the bat, it’s important to make it clear that a “threat” in the true sense of the word is not something that might bring about let’s say a growth rate decrease from 10% to 6.5% but rather an event/phenomenon so dramatic that it might even generate a recession. Believe it or not, even

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