Trade conflict: China's growth is surprisingly strong

Even the experts were surprised by the decline: they had forecast an increase of 6.6%. Since the beginning of the year, however, the Chinese economy has grown by 6.7 percent overall, the statistics bureau said. "The external challenges have increased significantly," said Mao Shengyong, spokesman for the Bureau of Statistics. However, until now, growth exceeds the prudent target set by the government, which is about 6.5% for the entire year.

Foreign trade proved to be quite robust in the third quarter, in part because exporters wanted to anticipate special duties imposed by the United States. Experts therefore expect the trade war to have a much greater impact over the next few months, with most of the special US tariffs on imports from China not being imported into the United States. being in force than last month.

"Government fears a sharp slowdown"

In order to keep the level of growth relatively stable, the government has already relaxed monetary and fiscal policy, said Max Zenglein of the China Institute MERICS in Berlin. "The Chinese government fears a major economic slowdown." It tries, for example, to give a new impetus to growth through infrastructure projects.

However, new threats threatened: efforts to tackle the risks of the financial system could be blocked. China is "facing a combination of external and internal risk factors resulting from the trade war and excessive debt," Zenglein said. Beijing is obliged to act. "This clearly shows that the resilience of the Chinese economy is down."

More expensive loans for businesses

The fight against debt and financial risks increases the credit costs of companies. In addition, the confidence of market players is declining, said Liu Yuanchun, economics professor at Beijing People's University. The economy is affected by a slowing trend of investment and consumption. The trade war will also have a more direct impact in the fourth quarter.

US President Donald Trump had imposed special duties on imports from China worth 250 billion US dollars (about 217 billion euros), about half of China's exports to the states. -United. Trump threatens to continue to increase by raising rates. Trump calls for greater market openness, the end of government subsidies and an effective fight against technology theft.

Discussions are pending

In retaliation, China has imposed special duties on imports from the United States worth $ 110 billion (96 billion euros). Much more is not possible because the United States has only exported 130 billion dollars (113 billion euros) last year to China. Talks between the two sides are on the ice. However, Trump and Chinese party leader Xi Jinping will meet at the top of the major economies (G-20) on November 30 and December 1 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The United States apparently enters into the WTO

According to news agency Reuters, the United States is launching the World Trade Organization (WTO) in a trade dispute with China, the EU, Canada and Mexico. According to an American representative inaugurated on Thursday, they asked that a dispute settlement body deal with tariffs imposed by the EU, China, Canada and Mexico after the US had imposed tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum.

The United States had justified its tariffs with concerns about national security. In affected States, this has been fraught with incomprehension. In particular, between China and the United States, the trade dispute has been considerably tightened. The People's Republic, according to its Ministry of Commerce, has asked the WTO to set up a panel of experts to examine the legality of US tariffs. The WTO has not yet been contacted for an opinion.