Asia

In the last five years, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) have forged the association between China and infrastructure in the global imaginary, and with good reason. With over one-thousand infrastructural projects concluded in over sixty countries, China’s $900 billion project involves 62 percent of the global population. However, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

If there is one thing that the Chinese leadership hates, it is not being in control of something crucially important. In the context of its authoritarian political system, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) remains in power with no need to compete with another political party. However, regime security remains its number one concern (or core interest) and, more than anything else, it relies on the fact that the party is seen as legitimate ruler.

Over 2018, China’s relations significantly sharpened with both the US and the EU. The most consequential of these is with the US, where the imposition of trade tariffs from later in the year was the first tangible sign that the relationship was entering an era of overt strategic competition.

China’s growth stopped at 6.5 percent in 2018. And the effects of the trade war have not yet been felt. The real crux is the high level of corporate indebtedness. But the authorities do not seem to have adequate solutions.

The process of economic development in China has always been characterized by a remarkable regional heterogeneity due not only to specific amenities and local factors (such as geographical position, demographic structure, resources, and so on), but also to the development policies implemented by central and local authorities over time.

With a population of just over one billion and 400 million individuals, China is facing a demographic crisis that could slow down economic development and threatens social welfare. The leading indicators reveal indeed that the “demographic window” – the stage that helped China to create the conditions for such unprecedented economic growth – is closing.