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China’s Xi Jinping is facing major economic headwinds, as he has just secured a third term as the head of the country. Leading political scientist Francis Fukuyama warned the growth is not as fast as expected. He added it might be a sign Xi’s economic model is running out of steam.
Francis Fukuyama, Senior Fellow at Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute and Director of Ford Dorsey Masters in International Policy told LBC: “I think the big question for geopolitics is actually China’s future itself.
“Because although they’re on the eve of this triumphant 20th Party Congress where they’re going to ratify another term for Xi Jinping, they’ve got a lot of problems.
“Their growth rate is now below the average for East Asia because of the zero-Covid policy and this blown-up in their housing market.
“So, China has a model of sustained economic growth crumbling before our eyes.”
China’s economic model may be close to exhausting its potential to create growth, as the country’s GDP grew well below target in the third quarter of this year.
The GDP expanded 3.9 percent year on year, falling short of China’s full-year target of 5.5 percent, which is already the lowest in three decades.
The slump was reported after China’s President Xi Jinping’s mandate was extended for a third term in a power-grabbing move at the Communist Party’s 20th Congress.
China is wrestling with a property crisis and strict zero-Covid controls and lockdowns, which have successfully contained the spread of the virus but crippled consumer activity.
READ MORE: China stocks strengthen but looming lockdowns stunt enthusiasm
In a dangerous sign of China’s poor economic performance, Chinese technology giants Alibaba and Baidu fell by over 12 percent in New York. Alibaba’s growth had previously slowed to zero in the April-June quarter because a two-month Covid-19 lockdown in Shanghai slowed China’s economy.
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