China's lockdown policies and real estate crash hamper economy

 Washington Examiner:

Growth slowed in China, the world’s second-largest economy, adding to fears of a broader global recession.

China reported that economic activity decelerated across the board last month, causing central bankers in Beijing to slash interest rates unexpectedly in an effort to prop up the economy. It was the first time that the country cut rates since January and shows that China’s strict COVID-19 mitigation policies and worsening real estate slump are cutting into the economy.

Chinese industrial production slowed to 3.8% in the 12 months ending in July, below forecast expectations of 4.6% growth, according to the country’s National Bureau of Statistics. Additionally, retail sales growth in China was nearly half of what forecasters anticipated.

“The July data suggest that the post-lockdown recovery lost steam as the one-off boost from reopening fizzled out and mortgage boycotts triggered a renewed deterioration in the property sector,” said Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China economist at Capital Economics, according to Reuters.

Evans-Pritchard said that while the People’s Bank of China is increasing its support for the economy, it “probably won’t be sufficient to prevent further economic weakness.”

The news comes as other major economies worldwide are feeling the pain from too-high inflation and the global fallout from the Russian war in Ukraine.

Inflation has been soaring in Western countries, causing central banks to begin aggressively tightening their monetary policies.

...

Things in Europe are also not going too well. Inflation in the United Kingdom and the European Union as a whole is even higher than in the U.S., and the continent is grappling with a devastating energy crisis because of the Russian war in Ukraine.

...

China's command economy is in trouble.  The lockdowns were a disaster as they were in some US blue states.   China's real estate market is grossly overbuilt with high rises in ghost cities sitting idle.  The Chicom government is responsible for both debacles.

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