China's Economy Expected to Hit Dangerous Lows after President Xi's Re-election

Photo by Edward He on Unsplash  

Despite President Xi Jiangping of China being one of the world’s most controversial leaders, he has created one of the most effective economies of all time and led China to become a world superpower. According to Axios, since the election of President Xi in 2012, the Chinese economy has spiked to over double the amount it was before his inauguration to a tremendous 17.7 trillion dollar value. In relation to the US, China exceeded market growth by nine percentage points.

Though these statistics may seem impressive, the current situation has drastically distracted away from China’s “golden age.” The fact is that after Xi’s re-election, the president’s government is being confronted with pressure from the middle class and the rest of the world. After such an innovative and progressive period of Chinese economic advancements, this pressure puts China at a risk for a decrease in productivity and an increase in public disarray. 

Some believe that China’s success was not at all a product of Xi’s presidency and that he actually slowed down the productivity of the market. A major roadblock in the initial success of China’s economy is the infamous zero-COVID policy introduced by the Chinese government in 2020, a hostile system of handling disease in major Chinese cities that has received global backlash. The zero-COVID policy affected the smooth stream of workplace productivity by keeping rigid lockdowns for infected individuals detrimentally affecting the overall productivity of China. 

Technological companies are a major indicator of economic success in China, especially this one specific company. Alibaba, a major e-commerce interface, has seen a steep decline in its stock price in the national Chinese market. Alibaba’s stock price in October of 2020 was $317; two years later, the stock price dropped to $76. If you check the price of the stock to date, it has steeped even lower – as of October 16th, the stock price is at $73. 

Although stock prices are unpredictable and it is normal for them to go up and down, the stock price of a major tech company declining generally could mean more for the Chinese economy. President Xi is receiving backlash from countries all around the world for his policies and way of conducting the economy. However, Xi is attempting to change this downward trend to a “new normal” that involves the expansion of trade and national economics. These changes could help change the outlook of business in China but it will take a long time to reverse the damage that has already been done.