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This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (March 2024)
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A series of economic crises have affected China since the country enacted its zero-COVID policy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In December 2019, the first case of SARS-CoV-2 was reported in Wuhan.[1] The outbreak in January 2020 was the impetus for a broader pandemic; the World Health Organization formally declared a pandemic on 11 March.[2]Inresponse, Xi Jinping's administration pursued a zero-COVID policy. On 23 January, amid a rising death toll, the Chinese government imposed a travel lockdown on Wuhan, confining citizens within the city.[3] In March, nearly all foreigners were barred from entering the country.[4]
In August 2020, the Chinese government enacted new regulations on the amount of debt property developers can incur. The new regulations affected Evergrande Group, China's second-largest property developer, and the Chinese real estate market as a whole.[5] In addition, the Chinese shadow banks, such as Sichuan Trust, have been greatly effected by the property sector crisis due to over lending and a crackdown on regulations.[6][7]
Financing affiliates in local governments—who depend upon the vitality of the real estate market—responded to the property sector crisis by borrowing the land that developers can no longer afford. The excess borrowing has created a debt crisis; China has lent nearly US$1 trillion to over a hundred developing countries.[8]
Since January 2023, the unemployment rate among young people in China has risen.
The CSI 300 index, which contains the largest and most liquid Shanghai- and Shenzhen-listed stocks, shedding more than 6% in January, 2024.[9]
