Can China Shift the Foundations of Its Economy?

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Beijing recently announced a 5 percent growth target amid economic headwinds.

By Cameron Abadi, a deputy editor at Foreign Policy, and Adam Tooze, a columnist at Foreign Policy and director of the European Institute at Columbia University. Sign up for Adam’s Chartbook newsletter here.

Employees check rain boots for export at a shoe factory in Lianyungang, China, on March 13.

Employees check rain boots for export at a shoe factory in Lianyungang, China, on March 13. AFP via Getty Images

China’s government recently announced a 5 percent growth target for the country, which surprised many analysts in the West, where the consensus has been that China is struggling amid economic headwinds ranging from a burst real estate bubble to de-globalization. Some even suggest that the 5 percent target is the result of Beijing fudging its own economic data. What’s not in dispute is that the Chinese economy, after a historically rapid rise, needs to change some of its economic foundations to continue that rise in the future.

Cameron Abadi is a deputy editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @CameronAbadi

Adam Tooze is a columnist at Foreign Policy and a history professor and the director of the European Institute at Columbia University. He is the author of Chartbook, a newsletter on economics, geopolitics, and history. Twitter: @adam_tooze