China’s legislature is meeting in March to approve the nation’s new Five Year Plan, which aims to promote higher quality growth, and make China increasingly self-sufficient in new technology of all kinds, from AI to semiconductors. Yet it comes against a backdrop of uncertainty and tariff wars abroad, and high youth unemployment and a slumping property market at home. Xi Jinping has pinned his hopes on boosting domestic consumption and has pledged to promote the private economy, which he had previously hit with a major regulatory crackdown. But will this be enough to stimulate the kind of economic revival the government is hoping for? Andy Rothman, founder of the consultancy Sinology LLC, former China-based analyst and diplomat, and now senior advisor to the DGA Albright Stonebridge Group and senior China fellow at the Asia Society Northern California, discusses China’s economic prospects — and the challenges for consumer confidence and private enterprise.

Photo credit: Yu Ko / Unsplash

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The views and opinions expressed on this podcast are those of the speakers and are not necessarily those of the SOAS China Institute.

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Music credit: Sappheiros / CC BY 3.0