It is easy to see why Chinese premier Wen Jiabao is calling for a “greater emphasis on growth”. China’s property market is stressed and the country’s main export market, Europe, is contracting. Several economic indicators, including electricity consumption, point to an economic downturn as severe as China experienced after the Lehman bust. Beijing’s mandarins have woken up to an old problem, but not found new answers. A proposed new stimulus plan suggests more money will be wasted on trophy projects, more bad debts will accumulate in the banking system, and China’s economic imbalances will continue to deteriorate.
人們不難理解中國總理溫家寶爲什麼強調要「把穩成長放在更加重要的位置」。中國的房地產市場倍感壓力，主要出口市場歐洲則正經歷經濟收縮。包括用電量在內的若干經濟指標顯示，中國正在經歷雷曼兄弟(Lehman)倒閉以來最嚴重的經濟低迷。北京的高階主管們覺察到了這個「老問題」，但卻沒能找到「新答案」。擬議中的新一輪刺激計劃表明，將有更多的資金會浪費到政績工程上，銀行體系將累積下更多壞賬，而中國的經濟失衡將繼續惡化。