CHINA’S economy grew 5.0 per cent last year, meeting the government’s target by seizing a record share of global demand for goods to offset weak domestic consumption, a strategy that blunted the impact of US tariffs but is increasingly hard to sustain.
Since its property sector crash in 2021, Beijing has guided resources towards the industrial complex rather than consumers to meet ambitious growth targets, creating endemic production overcapacity and forcing factories to look for buyers abroad.
Last year, China’s inroads into global markets went further than ever before, leading to a record trade surplus of $1.2 trillion, 20pc higher than in 2024.
While shipments to the US fell by a fifth, they rose sharply to the rest of the world as producers conquered new markets to insulate themselves from US President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff policies to counter Beijing’s challenge to American hegemony.
“We’re doing well in Europe and Latin America and we don’t need that market,” said Dave Fong, who co-owns three factories in southern China making everything from school bags to climbing gear and industrial machinery. About 15pc of his orders used to come from the US, but that’s now down to a trickle.
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