China’s 2025 Economic Playbook in a New Phase of Trade War
Yifei Zhu
Beijing’s economic targets for 2025 appear ambitious amid serious domestic and external challenges. This year’s plans show adjustments from previous years, focusing on domestic consumption, financial stability, and private sector support, where policy support is indeed essential. They also maintain continuity in technological advancement, reflecting Beijing’s enduring conviction that technology serves as the primary engine of economic growth. Meanwhile, Beijing has made extensive preparations for the greatest uncertainty of the year: the trade war. Are the proposed solutions sufficient to keep China on track? With Washington’s tariff increases and Beijing’s retaliatory measures now escalating into a full-scale trade war, a reassessment of China’s economic playbook has become urgent. This issue brief examines the problems facing the Chinese economy and evaluates Beijing’s proposed solutions, considering the latest developments. Although Beijing and Washington have recently agreed to a 90-day truce to ease trade tensions, the analysis and conclusions of this brief remain relevant and timely.
Related Publications
-
Safeguarding the Global Chip Supply: Lessons from PRC’s Technology Acquisition Tactics in Taiwan
Taiwan’s technological advantage, especially in the semiconductor sector, serves as a key factor for deterring a Chinese invasion. However, there are documented cases of the PRC using multiple strategies to […]
-
China’s Military-Civil Fusion in Space: Strategic Transformations and Implications for Europe
Key takeaways China’s Military-Civil Fusion (MCF) strategy is a multi-purpose tool to enhance national power, accelerate technological innovation, and drive industrial and economic development. MCF has reshaped China’s space […]
-
PLA in the Arctic: Under the Ice?
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA)’s Arctic ambitions represent a significant expansion of Chinese military capabilities into polar regions, with interconnected aspects worth examining in detail. Turning the PLA into a […]
-
‘Critical to understand internal dynamics of China’: An Interview with FATOUMATA DIALLO
Fatoumata Diallo currently serves as the Acting Head of the Stockholm China Center and is a Research Fellow. With a background that includes working at the EU delegation to China […]
-
The Economic Leash: China’s Financial Tethers and Global Power Plays
China’s emphasis on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth and its integration into global markets have allowed it to wield significant influence internationally. Nonetheless, this focus on rapid expansion has created […]