How China’s Economy Has Evolved, in Charts

One of the greatest economic success stories in modern history is starting to take an unpleasant turn.

Figures due on Tuesday will likely show China’s economy expanded by 6.9 percent in 2015, a respectable number by global standards but the slowest pace of expansion in China since 1990.

The slowdown in the world’s second largest economy, coupled with gyrations in the yuan and China’s stock markets, has cast a pall on global commodity prices and unnerved investors from Tokyo to New York.

The somewhat clumsy response by policymakers to stem the market panic has undermined investors’ confidence that authorities can continue to steer China’s economic transformation.

While doubts over the authenticity of Chinese data have persisted for years (and have been magnified more recently), the sheer scale of that metamorphosis is still huge.

Following the wave of reforms introduced in the early 90s, foreign direct investments surged, millions were lifted out of poverty and China’s foreign exchange reserves have ballooned to the largest in the world (although currency market interventions more recently have led to a sharp decline).

The services sector has gained in prominence at the expense of industry, which drove economic growth in the early part of China’s blistering growth, and internet growth soared, creating a number of technology heavyweights in the process.

Here’s a look at how China’s economy evolved since 1992, when former leader Deng Xiaoping went on a trip to Southern China to promote economic reforms.

CNBC

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.