The global recession triggered by the pandemic has hit China harder than almost anywhere else. World demand for its products, from high-end electronics to cheap plasticware, has slumped.
As delegates from across the vast country assembled last week for the National People’s Congress [NPC], the Communist Party’s rubber-stamp parliament, Beijing’s economic resurgence is in trouble. While the West has been scaling back its military spending in favour of welfare and healthcare, China has been building artificial islands as naval bases and airfields.
