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As the Year of the Dragon dawns, many Chinese wish for a better economy

Feb 9, 2024
Asking people in China about their Lunar New Year wishes, the talk inevitably shifts to the economy.
A vendor in Shanghai sells plush toys for the Year of the Dragon.
Charles Zhang/Marketplace

What's going on with China's stock market?

Feb 6, 2024
Since 2021, China’s stock markets have lost about $7 trillion in value, which has implications for the global economy.
China's President Xi Jinping is reportedly considering government interventions to cushion China's falling stocks. Above, men walk outside the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Isaac Lawrence/AFP via Getty Images

Why it's getting more expensive to hire workers in China

Aug 9, 2023
China’s government is making employers pay more into its social welfare system, just as the economy is stalling.
Employees work on a speaker assembly line in Fuyang in China's eastern Anhui province. It's been getting costlier for employers in China to hire workers.
STR/AFP via Getty Images

China's exports are falling, and that's a bad sign for the global economy

Aug 8, 2023
China is the world’s top exporter, and its trade data is a barometer for consumer spending around the world.
China’s exports fell 14.5% in July from a year earlier, the biggest decline since the start of the pandemic. Above, a port in China's eastern Jiangsu province.
STR/AFP via Getty Images

Is GDP still a useful gauge of China's economy?

Jul 17, 2023
There is a longstanding debate about whether the data is accurate. Some are skeptical of government officials' projections of 5% growth.
Crowds at Chengdu city's Taikoo Li commercial district. Chinese shoppers are consuming more, but not enough to offset weakness in the real estate sector and boost the sluggish economy. (Jennifer Pak/Marketplace)
Jennifer Pak/Marketplace

A look at China's economic change from Beijing's Sanlitun neighborhood

"Marketplace" host Kai Ryssdal and Shanghai correspondent Jennifer Pak walk around Sanlitun, where Ryssdal lived in the 1990s.
Jennifer Pak and Kai Ryssdal walk in Beijing's Sanlitun neighborhood. IIn the 1990s, the area was made up of old apartment buildings, vegetable stands and small bars catering to Westerners. Now there are luxury retail stores like Chanel and Dior.
Charles Zhang for Marketplace

What it takes to lure IT workers back to the Chinese countryside

Jun 26, 2023
Some city-dwellers are heeding the call of China’s government for people to return and revive the countryside.
Ex-coder Hu Hang stands in a peach orchard he co-invests in. He quit the IT sector and moved from Shenzhen back to his hometown in central Jiangxi province a few years ago. (Christian Petersen-Clausen/Marketplace)
Christian Petersen-Clausen for Marketplace

For public good, not for profit.

The price of copper is an economic indicator, and right now, it's falling

May 25, 2023
The problem? Too little demand, too much supply. Rising interest rates are also contributing to weaker demand around the world.
Over the past six weeks or so, the price of copper has fallen more than 10%, indicating a slowdown for the economy.
Denis Charlet/AFP via Getty Images

Fading job prospects discourage younger Chinese workers

May 17, 2023
China's job market remains competitive as the economy recovers from zero-COVID. But some young people have lost their eagerness to compete.
Students at a job fair in Beijing last year. Unemployment among graduates has remained stubbornly high even though China has dismantled its zero-COVID policy.
Jade Gao/AFP via Getty Images

Oil demand is steady, but now OPEC+ is cutting supply

Apr 3, 2023
The economies of China, the U.S. and Europe will all be affected by the cartel's move to boost energy prices.
An oil tanker delivers crude to a Chinese port. China’s been increasing its oil demand, but that may not offset a potential slowdown in the West, according to Sara Vakshouri of SVB Energy.
STR/AFP via Getty Images